SCOTLAND · FINGERPRINT MISIDENTIFICATION · PERJURY PROSECUTION

Fingerprint experts said a crime-scene print belonged to police officer Shirley McKie. Independent review found it did not.

Fingerprint identification → officer disputes match → perjury charge → acquittal → independent experts reject identification

During the investigation of the 1997 murder of Marion Ross in Scotland, Scottish Criminal Record Office fingerprint examiners identified a crime-scene mark as the left thumbprint of police officer Shirley McKie. McKie consistently said she had never entered the house and therefore could not have left the print.

After she testified to that effect, McKie was prosecuted for perjury and was acquitted in 1999. Subsequent independent examination found that the disputed mark had not been made by McKie. Scottish authorities later acknowledged the misidentification; inspections and reviews produced changes to fingerprint procedures, quality assurance and independent scrutiny.

Why it matters: When biometric evidence is treated as effectively infallible, a person disputing the biometric can themselves become the suspect. The question shifts from 'could the fingerprint be wrong?' to 'why is this person lying?'

Primary sources: Scottish Parliament testimony · Scottish Parliament record

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