Dorothy Schmidt '07 Wins International Association of Defense Counsel Legal Writing Contest

Dorothy Schmidt '07, won this year's International Association of Defense Counsel legal writing contest, for her A paper on admissibility of fingerprint evidence. The paper will be published in the Defense Counsel Journal.

Her paper was inspired by the Brandon Mayfield case, specifically an article in the Oregonian quoting a prominent critic of fingerprint methodology as stating that it had never been scientifically validated. Like most people, Schmidt had always assumed fingerprint identification was firmly grounded in science, and she wanted to find out more. Schmidt was taking Criminal Procedure with professor Kroger at the time, Kroger proposed that she approach the topic as an independent study subject, and offered to be her advisor.

The paper describes how fingerprint methodology evolved historically, and also outlines the history of how it came to be accepted in the courts. At the center of the controversy is the contention of practitioners that they are infallible; that is, once a positive ID has been made, they believe there is no chance that it is mistaken. This is what led FBI agents to disregard Spanish police assessments that Mayfield's print did not match one connected to the Madrid train bombings - even for a few days after the Spanish police had found the correct match. The paper concludes with advice for defense attorneys on how to approach challenging fingerprint testimony in court.

"Since I have a science background, I came to the subject with a definite sympathy for the scientists' point of view. Professor Kroger's extensive background working with the FBI on criminal prosecutions made him the perfect advisor, since he could challenge my assumptions and provide the opposing point of view. His input made the paper far more balanced and carefully reasoned than it would have been otherwise," said Schmidt.

More Informaton

John Kroger Biography

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