Fingerprint Fraud in Hartford CT?

[L.J.Steele]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/state ... 7674.story

Bad fingerprint leads to teen's release
Associated Press
October 18, 2008
HARTFORD, Conn. - Charges are being dropped against a Hartford teen who spent more than a year behind bars, accused of a 2007 home invasion robbery, because the fingerprint evidence against him is faulty.

A judge granted a motion to end the prosecution of Argenis J. Burgos after the initial fingerprint identification in the case proved to be incorrect. And Burgos, now 18, does not fit the victim's description of the robbers.

Burgos' lawyer says his client always maintained his innocence and was never near the East Hartford apartment where a 71-year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint.

Police initially said they lifted the fingerprint evidence from the base of a cordless phone. But Burgos' lawyer says the print actually came from the getaway car, which was a stolen rental car.


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If the allegations in the last paragraph are true, this is not a mis-ID case. This is a deliberate attempt by police to frame this kid. The folks involved need to be named and disciplined. The public and the public defenders need to press for a full investigation as was done in Boston when the Boston PD latent print unit mis-ID'd Cowans and is currently going on in LA.