fyi Tazman - I looked this up at home and found the following to be the most enlightening info - it was under one of Charles Parker's posts in the history forum section with David Grieve responding to it. It is a pretty exciting period in the history of latent examination - Charles made a nice summary of the working timeline. There is more in depth info there for the history fan. I copied below....
Jennings or Crispi
by Charles Parker » Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:16 pm
I have heard or been told that the first case where fingerprints were used in court was Illinois v Jennings. Then later it seemed to change to Jennings was the first case that went to appeal and was confirmed because their was another case in New York that might have occurred before Jennings.
Here are some dates:
1910--September 19--Clarence Hiller is found shot to death in his home in Chicago. A short time later Thomas Jennings is arrested a few blocks away with a revolver in his pocket.
1911--February 1--Thomas Jennings is found guilty of the murder of Clarence B. Hiller. Appealed
1911--February 23--The loft of H.M. Bernstein & Brothers at 171 Wooster street in New York is found burglarized.
1911--?????????????--The latent prints from H.M. Berstein are identified to Cesare J. Cella, alias Charles Crispi. Cella arrested and indicted. (Probably in March as there is a letter to the D.A.D.A. from a New York official and the letter is dated March 10, 1911)
1911--?????????????-The first criminal appeal involving fingerprint identification is affirmed in Illinois.
1911---????????????--Cella goes on trial and Captain Faurot testifies and demonstrates in court. After which Cella (Crispi) confesses. (Probably in May as there an article in the New York Times dated May 12 titled Fingerprints Convict)
The following is partially taken from a presentation made by George S. Dougherty, 2nd Deputy Commissioner of Police, New York City to a meeting of the I.A.C.P. in 1911 (p.82)
Judge Rosalsky, after the plea had been taken, said to Cella: "I want you to make a full confession. I can assure you that no indictment will be found against you, or any witnesses who testified in your behalf in the course of the trial, for perjury, but it is more for the interest of justice and science that you tell the truth. It is invaluable for us to know whether or not the expert testimony given during your trial was correct or otherwise. The fingerprint experts are of the opinion that the science of identification, by means of fingerprints, is more exact than the Bertillon system and photography. Did you remove the pane of glass, in evidence here, from the door of the loft of H.M. Bernstein & Brothers?"
The defendant answered that "he did," and then gave full details of the burglary. In view of the fact that he had assisted in the science of fingerprint, Cella was given the minimum sentence of six months in prison.
Based upon the dates I have presented I would think that Jennings was still the first to go to court. The first appealed and the conviction upheld.
The Cella (Crispi) case can be said that it was the first case that went to court based upon fingerprints alone and no other evidence.Knuckle Draggin Country Cousin
Cedar Creek, TXCharles Parker
Posts: 609
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 8:15 am
Location: Cedar Creek, TXTop
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Re: Jennings or Crispi
by Charles Parker » Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:24 pm
OK, I have another case which may not knock the Jennings case out of the running but will knock the Cella (Crispi) case out of 2nd place.
The following is excerpted from a letter by W.E. Cashin dated 12-15-1937 who was the director of the New York State Bureau of Identification.
Director Cashin writes that "the first conviction on fingerprint evidence in New York State was on April 3, 1911, which was the case of Lam(bert) Card and Frank Brown, convicted at New York City, Rockland County, by Judge McCaul(***) and sentenced, one for three to six years and the other for four to six years, for the crime of Breaking, Entering and Larceny".
BOLD=Illegible
This is a month before the Cella (Crispi) case.
Taken from the booklet "History of Identification in the United States" compliled by Harry J. Myers II and copyright 1941 by the Institute of Applied Science.Knuckle Draggin Country Cousin
Cedar Creek, TXCharles Parker
Posts: 609
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 8:15 am
Location: Cedar Creek, TX
Re: Jennings or Crispi
by David L. Grieve » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:43 am
The Jennings case was not the first fingerprint case to go to court in the US but the first one to have a high court review. The prior cases in New York were even mentioned at the Jennings trial. The appeal when Jennings was found guilty in the Chicago trial (what a witness list it was, too -Evans, Ms. Holland and Edward Foster from Canada) zipped right up to the Illinois Supreme Court so that the decision was published less than a year after the conviction. The interesting thing to me is that the written decision from 1911 accepts the validity of fingerprint identification by listing the categories examined by the court. In the pre-Frye years, the court's decision reads like a response to a Daubert challenge some 82 years later, addressing scientific basis, reliability, peer review and error rate. Today we might find the court's bases as lacking or unsubstantiated, but each category is addessed and answered. Evidently the defense presented no further appeal to the US Supreme Court, for Mr. Jennings was hanged in February, 1912, at the Cook County jail.