Law School News
Prof. Jackie McMurtrie’s cleverly titled article Swirls and Whorls: Litigating
Post-Conviction Claims of Fingerprint Misidentification After the NAS Report
was published last month in the Utah Law Review. It has since been referenced on
Complete Latent Print Examination, Federal Public Defender Central District of
California, The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, and noted as an
"excellent article" on the Tenth Circuit Blog. McMurtrie’s article discusses
cases of erroneous fingerprint identification and legal challenges to the
evidence. It also reviews areas, notably Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis and
Shaken Baby Syndrome, where petitioners have successfully raised post-conviction
claims based upon new developments in forensic science. As director of the
Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW) Clinic, she represents indigent people in
Washington State who are serving long prison terms, who proclaim their
innocence, and who no longer have a right to court-appointed counsel."
Within the article she explains that Although the IPNW Clinic is particularly
active in pursuing DNA testing on physical evidence to demonstrate innocence, we
also represent clients in non-DNA Cases. We are currently investigating two
cases where latent fingerprint matches were the only evidence linking the
defendant to the crime.
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