PRINTING NEVER LIES: FINGERPRINTS ARE ESSENTIAL PART OF IDENTIFICATION

Dr. Robert Briner compared fingerprints found at a murder scene in Charleston to a set of known prints.

Dr. Briner examined a handgun for fingerprints and will make a ballistics test to determine if the gun was the murder weapon in a recent homicide.

Like snowflakes, there are no two sets of fingerprints that are alike.

Fingerprints are more unique than DNA, said Dr. Robert Briner, director of the SEMO Crime Lab at Southeast Missouri State University.

"Identical twins have the same DNA," he said. "But they don't have the same fingerprints."

And that's what makes fingerprints so valuable.

No case of two people having the same fingerprint has ever been found, he said, which makes fingerprinting an exact method of identifying someone.

This is invaluable, especially in criminal investigations.

"If you have exact results, there's no question," Briner said.

Briner has worked on several homicide cases in the 20 Southeast Missouri counties that the crime lab serves. He has been working on the murder that happened in Charleston last week. A Charleston man was found in his automobile shot to death.

Briner said he went there and found several fingerprints on the car that may hold clues to the killer's identity.

But he said roughly only 20 percent of crime scenes involve fingerprints and that is for a variety of reasons.

"You don't leave a print every time you touch something," he said. This depends on how oily a person's skin is and how deeply impressed the print is. Plus, prints are not easily left on some objects such as those made from wood and clothing material.

To identify a print, Briner and a staff of four assistants at the lab study loops, swirls and other characteristics of fingerprints. Each common characteristic constitutes a point, he said.

Not much of a print is needed to constitute a match, he said. He likes to have 12 points to be absolutely sure, though he's worked with fewer.

"Sometimes I think it's an art form," said Robert McCoy, a detective with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. He spends most of his day in the department's crime lab lifting prints from items. He, too, said fingerprints are exact.

But the process is relatively involved. He takes an object, puts it in a container and puts superglue on a heat source. Then, after the superglue has evaporated and adheres to the print, he can "lift" it onto a white strip of paper and get a "read" from it.

"Fingerprints are touchy," he said, unaware of his pun. "Time, humidity and the surface of the prints are all factors."

Fingerprints don't lie, McCoy said. They're unique to every individual. "So if a guy says he wasn't there and we find his fingerprints, we can prove otherwise."

Some of the nation's most notorious criminals have tried to reduce the chances of being arrested by attempting to destroy their fingerprints. John Dillinger and Al Capone mutilated their fingers with knives and acid, attempting to destroy their fingerprints.

They were not successful.

"Even if you do try to get rid of your fingerprints, there's usually enough to identify someone," Briner said. "You only need a small piece."

When Dillinger was shot down, there was still enough of a fingerprint on his fingers to identify him.

"It's challenging," Briner said. "It allows you to feel like you're using your expertise for some good."