Bisbee daily review., 1921-06-09
MOON SENTENCE |S UPHELD BY
 STATE COURT
Eingerprint Evidence Is Held Sufficient Proof; Other
 Angles Considered

The reliability of the finger print in establishing identy was recognized in an opinion rendered Tuesday by Justice Baker, in the state supreme court at Phoenix. in the case of Charles Moon. appellant. vs. the State of Arizona. respondent. The opinion affirms the judgment of the Cochise county superior court.
 Moon was arrested here in 1919. was convicted~of the burglary of the Treu meat market. and was sentenc- ed to from 5 to l5 years in the state penitentiary The door of the safe of the shop was forced by using batch CTS cleavers for wedges. On a DOT celain slab in front of the cash reg ister of the .burglarized shop were found distinct prints of four fingers of the right hand. On door neaI the cash register was found small piece of human skin, and around it were drops of blood.
 This piece of skin furnished the clue and the business of the officers was to search for a man who had re- gently hurt his hand. Moon was thus discovered and when later the finger prints were developed and enlarged they were found to correspond with the ridges of Moons fingers.
 Opinion Is Detailed
 Though in this case there was oth- CT evidence of which the finger prints would have been corroborative. Jus tice Baker went into the subject of finger prints most exhaustively. large ly to the overshadowing of the evi- f.l, Fl, orative.
 Perhaps in this opinion the subject of this form of identification is treat ed more fully than it had been ever before in a judicial expression in this country. In no other opinion prob ably has no great confidence in the reliability of this form of evidence been voiced.
 Evidence concerning the finger prints were introduced at the trial by two expert witnesses. It was also shown that the piece of human skin found near the cash register core sponded with the wound found on the hand of Moon following his arrest on the morning aftef the burglary.
 The opinion include an historical review of the use of the fingerprint in the identification of individuals and in the prevention of forgery. quot ing from Brayleys Finger Prints Identification"
 Case Made Stronger
 Gods finger print language the Voiceless speech and the indelible writing imprinted on the fingers, >dnd palms and feet soles of humanity by the all-wise Creator for some good and useful purpose in the structure. regu- lation and well-being of the human body has been utilized ages before the civilization of Europe as means of Identification, bt the Chinese, and who shall say it is not a part of the plan of the Creator for the ultimate elimination of crime by means of sur rounding the evilly-disposed by safe guards of prevention and for the un- questionable evidence of identity m all cases where such is necessary. whether it be in wills. deeds, insur- ance or commercial medium of fi- nance, as we'll as in the discovering and Identification of law breakers"
 The case against Moon was made the stronger by the discovery of his criminal record in San Francisco. where the bureau of identification had also taken his finger prints. which were presented to the jury at his trial at Tombstone. But in offering that the written matter of the record was covered with a piece of paper in or der that the jury might not be influ- enced by the fact that it was alleged he had committed another crime there, which was that of attempted murder