Category: Forensics

• Fingerprint Forgery

  This theory held that fingerprint identification, widely presented in the early twentieth century as nearly infallible, could itself be manipulated by authorities. In its strongest form, the allegation claimed that federal investigators could reproduce a person’s friction ridges with rubber, wax, gelatin, or other molded materials and place those prints at a crime scene. The idea drew on the growing prestige of fingerprint evidence, early demonstrations that impressions could be copied, and periodic legal or press discussions about fabricated latent prints. In conspiracy form, the story usually named the FBI or modern forensic bureaus as the actors who could secretly manufacture guilt while presenting the result as scientific certainty.