Gunpowder Chronicle posted on October 23, 2007 7:15 AM | Rating:
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The O'Malley Gazette is reporting this morning that Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Susan M. Souder has barred the use of partial prints in the murder trial of Bryan Keith Rose. Rose is charged in the murder of Warren T. Fleming outside of Security Square Mall in January of 2006.
The order issued by High Priestess Souder is bad law and trumps our jury system.
Judge Souder has declared that the use of partial fingerprints is "unreliable" based on two cases where the prints were misidentified. That is two cases out of 100 years. The order could have a substantial impact on a number of cases in Maryland. The bigger question is if it will open up a floodgate of appeals from defendants convicted on similar partial prints.
My problem here is that Judge Souder is doing an end run around the jury system. The judge should be concerned about the admissibility of evidence only under specific circumstances-- ie, was the evidence collected properly, was the chain of custody maintained, were proper procedures used, etc.
The issue of whether the print itself is credible -- or if the the fingerprint specialists are credible -- should be an issue of fact decided by the jury. By preventing the jury from seeing the entire body of evidence the prosecution possesses -- evidence based on a century of criminal procedure -- the judge is denying the people of Baltimore County the right to a fair trial of an accused murderer.
They often say that bad cases make bad law. Well to that we should add bad judges overreaching in their responsibilities and writing incredibly broad (not to mention stupid) orders based only on conjecture and personal ideaology.
Bad judge. Bad judge.