163,291 research outputs found
How Jurors Evaluate Fingerprint Evidence: The Relative Importance of Match Language, Method Information, and Error Acknowledgment
Fingerprint examiners use a variety of terms and phrases to describe a finding of a match between a defendant\u27s fingerprints and fingerprint impressions collected from a crime scene. Despite the importance and ubiquity of fingerprint evidence in criminal cases, no prior studies examine how jurors evaluate such evidence. We present two studies examining the impact of different match phrases, method descriptions, and statements about possible examiner error on the weight given to fingerprint identification evidence by laypersons. In both studies, the particular phrase chosen to describe the finding of a match-whether simple and imprecise or detailed and claiming near certainty-had little effect on participants\u27 judgments about the guilt of a suspect. In contrast, the examiner admitting the possibility of error reduced the weight given to the fingerprint evidence-regardless of whether the admission was made during direct or cross-examination. In addition, the examiner providing information about the method used to make fingerprint comparisons reduced the impact of admitting the possibility of error. We found few individual differences in reactions to the fingerprint evidence across a wide range of participant variables, and we found widespread agreement regarding the uniqueness of fingerprints and the reliability of fingerprint identifications. Our results suggest that information about the reliability of fingerprint identifications will have a greater impact on lay interpretations of fingerprint evidence than the specific qualitative or quantitative terms chosen to describe a fingerprint match
How Jurors Evaluate Fingerprint Evidence: The Relative Importance of Match Language, Method Information, and Error Acknowledgment
Fingerprint examiners use a variety of terms and phrases to describe a finding of a match between a defendant\u27s fingerprints and fingerprint impressions collected from a crime scene. Despite the importance and ubiquity of fingerprint evidence in criminal cases, no prior studies examine how jurors evaluate such evidence. We present two studies examining the impact of different match phrases, method descriptions, and statements about possible examiner error on the weight given to fingerprint identification evidence by laypersons. In both studies, the particular phrase chosen to describe the finding of a match-whether simple and imprecise or detailed and claiming near certainty-had little effect on participants\u27 judgments about the guilt of a suspect. In contrast, the examiner admitting the possibility of error reduced the weight given to the fingerprint evidence-regardless of whether the admission was made during direct or cross-examination. In addition, the examiner providing information about the method used to make fingerprint comparisons reduced the impact of admitting the possibility of error. We found few individual differences in reactions to the fingerprint evidence across a wide range of participant variables, and we found widespread agreement regarding the uniqueness of fingerprints and the reliability of fingerprint identifications. Our results suggest that information about the reliability of fingerprint identifications will have a greater impact on lay interpretations of fingerprint evidence than the specific qualitative or quantitative terms chosen to describe a fingerprint match
Hierarchical mixture models for assessing fingerprint individuality
The study of fingerprint individuality aims to determine to what extent a
fingerprint uniquely identifies an individual. Recent court cases have
highlighted the need for measures of fingerprint individuality when a person is
identified based on fingerprint evidence. The main challenge in studies of
fingerprint individuality is to adequately capture the variability of
fingerprint features in a population. In this paper hierarchical mixture models
are introduced to infer the extent of individualization. Hierarchical mixtures
utilize complementary aspects of mixtures at different levels of the hierarchy.
At the first (top) level, a mixture is used to represent homogeneous groups of
fingerprints in the population, whereas at the second level, nested mixtures
are used as flexible representations of distributions of features from each
fingerprint. Inference for hierarchical mixtures is more challenging since the
number of unknown mixture components arise in both the first and second levels
of the hierarchy. A Bayesian approach based on reversible jump Markov chain
Monte Carlo methodology is developed for the inference of all unknown
parameters of hierarchical mixtures. The methodology is illustrated on
fingerprint images from the NIST database and is used to make inference on
fingerprint individuality estimates from this population.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-AOAS266 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
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