Fingerprint Evidence in Canada: Dating Prints, Match Standards, and Courtroom Limits

Sexual Assault Defense at Sam Goldstein & Associates

At Sam Goldstein & Associates, defending individuals accused of sexual assault is a cornerstone of our legal practice. We understand the sensitivity and complexity tied to these cases and are dedicated to providing our clients with the comprehensive legal representation they deserve. Based in Toronto, our group of seasoned defense attorneys is committed to guiding our clients through every step of this challenging process with compassion, confidentiality, and an assertive legal strategy.

Legal Representation

Our legal team is highly skilled in navigating the nuances of sexual assault defense. We meticulously analyze the evidence, challenge procedural and substantive errors, and utilize our extensive knowledge of criminal law to defend our clients’ rights vigorously. Our approach is personalized; we tailor our defense strategies to the specifics of each case, ensuring the most effective representation possible.

Criminal Defense Expertise

With backgrounds that span various facets of criminal law, our attorneys bring a wealth of experience to our clients’ defense. This expertise allows us to confront the charges against our clients confidently, from pre-trial negotiations to courtroom litigation.

Legal Counsel and Support

Understanding the personal toll that criminal charges can take on individuals and their families, we stand by our clients as both legal advisors and supportive allies. We aim to demystify the legal process, offering clarity and peace of mind during a tumultuous time.

Our Team of Dedicated Attorneys

At the heart of Sam Goldstein & Associates is a team of legal professionals who are not only experts in the law but are also passionate advocates for justice. Each lawyer, paralegal, and support staff member is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of legal practice while providing compassionate support to our clients.

Lawyers

Our lawyers are recognized for their legal acumen and commitment to excellence. Whether arguing a case before the court or negotiating a settlement, our team’s legal proficiency is unmatched.

Legal Professionals

Our legal professionals, including paralegals and legal assistants, play a critical role in our firmâ€™s success, providing invaluable support in research, documentation, and case management.

Legal Experts

Our reputation is grounded in our deep understanding of criminal defense law, specifically in the realm of sexual assault allegations. This expertise is a cornerstone of the robust legal representation we provide to our clients.

Our Toronto Location

Rooted in the heart of Ontario, Canada, our firm is strategically situated in Toronto’s dynamic legal district. Serving clients across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), our office is accessible and ready to assist those in need of exceptional legal defense.

Ontario

Our practice extends throughout Ontario, leveraging the province’s diverse legal resources and networks to benefit our clients.

Canada

While our focus is on serving the Toronto community, our firm’s expertise and services are sought after by clients across Canada, reflecting our national reputation for excellence in criminal defense.

GTA

The Greater Toronto Area’s complexity and diversity mirror our firm’s approach to legal defense: dynamic, innovative, and always client-focused. We are proud to serve this vibrant community.

Our Group Approach

Sam Goldstein & Associates operates on the belief that a collaborative team approach provides our clients with the most comprehensive defense. Our group of attorneys, paralegals, and legal experts work together seamlessly, pooling our knowledge and resources to ensure that every angle is considered and every strategy is meticulously planned. This collaborative ethos is at the core of our firm’s identity, making us a leading law firm in Toronto for those facing sexual assault charges.

Team

Our team’s collaborative spirit fosters creative legal strategies and robust defense mechanisms, ensuring that we are always a step ahead.

Law Firm

As a law firm, our collective experience and diverse areas of expertise empower us to tackle even the most challenging sexual assault cases with confidence and professionalism.

Association

We view our firm as more than just a collection of individuals; we are a united association dedicated to defending the rights and freedom of our clients. Our shared goal is to provide the most effective and compassionate legal defense for those we represent.

In the tumultuous realm of sexual assault charges, trust Sam Goldstein & Associates to stand by your side with the expertise, commitment, and compassion you need. Located at 100 Richmond Street West, Suite 318 in Toronto, Ontario, we invite you to reach out to us to secure a defense team that is fiercely dedicated to protecting your rights and securing the best possible outcome for your case.

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Joseph Steinberg is an experienced cybersecurity, privacy, and AI consultant who has served as a board member on multiple cybersecurity boards. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the security & technology space to the table and is passionate about helping organizations secure their networks and data from malicious actors. Cybersecurity Board Member

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Phone: +1 (416) 927-1211

Email: sam@samgoldstein.ca

Fingerprint Evidence in Canada: Dating Prints, Match Standards, and Courtroom Limits

It is easier now than ever before for the police to arrest Miss Scarlett for killing Col. Mustard in the library thanks to two professors from the University of Idaho who believe they can

determine when a fingerprint was left on an object’s surface, like a lead pipe.

Previously, the science of fingerprinting (dermatoglyphics) could tell you

only whose fingerprint it was but not how long ago it was made, leaving

Miss Scarlett with the reasonable excuse that she had earlier touched the

lead pipe.

It was Juan Vucetich, an Argentine police official who, in 1891, initiated

fingerprinting of all criminals. His efforts led to the conviction of Francisca

Rojas for the murder of her 6-year-old son based on her bloody fingerprint left on the child’s bedroom door.

In Canada, fingerprinting identification became the primary method of identification for law enforcement purposes in 1908. In fact, the RCMP holds the oldest fingerprint repository in North America.

I once unsuccessfully prosecuted a defendant, when I was an assistant Crown attorney, for

possession of a stolen car. His fingerprints alone were found on the driver’s door handle. There was no forced entry. The problem was that he had an innocent explanation. He had changed the flat tire in his garage some days earlier. The owner had left it with him over the weekend. I had no way of proving when the fingerprints had been made — before the car went missing or after.

Professors Paige Hinners and Young Jin Lee discovered a method that can analyze the gradual degradation over time of natural oils contained in fingerprints. Their study, published in the academic journal Analytic Chemistry, discovered that it is possible to date a fingerprint to within a day of when it was made. If only they had made their discovery a decade earlier, I could have dated when the mechanic had left his fingerprint.

The truth is, however, that while advances in dermatoglyphics have indeed made it easier to find fingerprints, the methodology of how fingerprint identification is made (dactyloscopy) is still more art than science.

An Oregon lawyer was arrested by the FBI in 2004 for the deadly Madrid train bombings. Brandon Mayfield was held in custody based on a fingerprint on a bag containing detonating devices found by Spanish authorities that the FBI matched to him. After 17 days, the FBI admitted it made a mistake and Mayfield was released.

The Mayfield case revealed how subjective fingerprint identification is. Look at your fingertips. You will see ridge patterns on your skin representing loops, whorls and

arches. The display of these ridge patterns is what makes a fingerprint unique to you.

Dactyloscopy is based on finding similar looking ridge patterns between fingerprint samples. These similarities are called points of comparison. The more points of comparison that are made between fingerprint samples the more certain we can say that Unknown Fingerprint Sample A “matches” Known Fingerprint Sample B.

The crucial issue is agreeing on how many comparison points it takes to say the fingerprint left on the lead pipe belongs to Miss Scarlett. In the U.S. a match requires 10 to 12 points of comparison, Scotland Yard requires 16, France 17. In Canada 20.

Then there is the issue of the quality of the “match” that is required to conclude that two sets of fingerprints are from the same person. Here, too, there is a good chance that two people comparing a Known fingerprint sample to an Unknown fingerprint sample will disagree that Miss Scarlett’s known fingerprint sample looks like the fingerprint left on the

lead pipe.

Computer generated matching comes no closer to an objective finding because it relies on

the subjectivity of the human programmer. Moreover, societal confidence in dactyloscopy is largely result-driven. Its objective truth is skewed by the confirmation bias that the police arrested the right person. The existing studies that do question basic assumptions about fingerprint identification are dismissed as subjective disagreements between two observers or jurisdictional disagreements about the accepted number of match-point

comparisons.

You will be surprised to learn that there is little to no empirical evidence that no two people have the same fingerprint. It does not logically follow that because I have never seen a crow to be a colour other than black that all crows are black.

Until the good professors Hinners and Lee discover a better fingerprint identification methodology, I would be careful about locking up Miss Scarlett for now.

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