Opinion ID: 2230536
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Supergluing Technique

Text: Defendant next contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence two of his fingerprints because the scientific technique used to develop those prints, known as supergluing, was not shown to be generally accepted in the scientific community. Two fingerprints, identified as defendant's, were found on one of the garbage bags containing a body part of the victim. One print was inside the bag, and one outside. These two latent prints were developed by exposing the bags to cyanoacrylate ester (commonly known as superglue) fumes. In addition to the two prints on the bags, 47 of the 51 prints identified as defendant's that were found in his apartment and truck were developed through supergluing. Defendant does not challenge the admission of those 47 prints. Officer James Doran testified before the jury concerning the supergluing process. He had been with the Chicago police department for 14 years. In August 1984, he was a supervisor of the latent fingerprint development unit of the Chicago police department crime lab. His unit was responsible for developing or enhancing ridge impressions found on evidence submitted to the unit. He worked on approximately 3,000 cases in a three-year time period. He received a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry, and a master of science degree in social justice. He had taken courses at the FBI Academy in latent fingerprints and in laser technology, and at Northwestern University in immunology, serology and industrial microbiology. He testified without objection as an expert in the field of fingerprint development. Doran testified that latent print examiners use a variety of means to develop prints, including laser, powders, dyes, chemicals such as ninhydrin, iodine, and silver nitrate, and cyanoacrylate ester, or superglue. (According to Doran, this is the same superglue that can be purchased at the store.) He testified that he had used all of these methods over a period of many years. He testified that superglue was developed as an adhesive in the early 1950s by Eastman Kodak. In the early 1970s, a man named Candell, working with Army Intelligence and the Metropolitan Tokyo police, found that if he put an object in a tank with superglue and left it there for several days, ridge impressions would form. In about 1978, Candell wrote about the technique in the Identification News. The FBI and several other agencies picked up on it, and the Chicago crime lab began using it. In order to determine whether an object contains latent fingerprints, it is first exposed to laser. If no ridge impressions are visible, the examiner will proceed to another type of enhancer or developer, such as superglue. When supergluing is used, the object is placed in a chamber that can be sealed off, and the superglue is spread on the bottom of the chamber. Heat can be added to the chamber to accelerate the fuming process; the process then takes approximately 20 minutes. In addition, an entire area can be exposed to the fumes. In the case at bar, defendant's truck and apartment were subjected to the supergluing process. After the fuming process, latent prints may become visible. At that point, the object may again be subjected to laser. The goal is to make the print visible so that it can be photographed. Concerning how the process works, Doran testified that it is suspect[ed] that it works on the moisture  that is, the moisture that is secreted from one's fingertips. The superglue process is reliant upon the use of the reagent cyanoacrylate. Doran then testified at length concerning his examination for fingerprints of numerous objects from defendant's apartment, the garbage bags, and defendant's truck and apartment. On cross-examination, Doran testified that if too much superglue is used, part or all of the print can be destroyed. Doran agreed that hypothetically, if the latent print had been obliterated or in some way destroyed, then there could be a false identification or a misidentification. He believed that Loktite Corporation had done some studies on the effect of the reagent cyanoacrylate, although he was not aware of those studies. He was aware of controlled studies on various objects, although he was not asked to identify those studies. He was not aware of any controlled studies on deterioration of prints caused by supergluing. Officer Theatrice Patterson was examined on voir dire. He is a Chicago police officer assigned to the identification section of the Chicago police department as a latent print examiner. He testified without objection as an expert on latent print examination and comparison. Patterson's job is to identify unknown latent prints taken from a crime scene or objects by comparing known prints with the latent, unknown prints. He does not examine the crime scene, lift prints, or enhance prints for comparison. He is provided with photographs of latent prints, which he then compares to the inked, or known, prints. Under questioning by defendant's counsel, Patterson did not agree that if part of a latent print had been destroyed, this could result in a false reading when he made his comparison. He stated that if there is one unexplainable dissimilarity between the known and the unknown print, it would void the identification. As an example of a dissimilarity that can be explained, he said that with powder, if the powder does not adhere to the full ridge, it will leave a vacant area, and the ridge will then appear as two ending ridges. Upon examination by the State, Patterson testified that fingerprints developed by supergluing account for approximately 25% of the identification section's case load. The process has been used by the Chicago police department since 1980 or 1981. He considers the process to be reliable, and, to his knowledge, his colleagues in his field of expertise consider it reliable. It is particularly effective on plastic, vinyl, and cellophane. It is used in a number of other jurisdictions besides Illinois and in other countries, and it is used by the FBI. Patterson was not aware of any controlled studies concerning the use of superglue. He has read articles about the process, but these articles did not address the accuracy of the process. The defendant did not present any expert witnesses. After Doran's testimony, and again after Patterson's testimony, the court denied defendant's motion to exclude testimony concerning supergluing of prints. The court ruled that the use of superglue to enhance prints is generally accepted in the scientific community. It stated that any defects in the process had been brought out by defense counsel, and that it is for the jury to decide whether the prints were obliterated in part or in full. After Patterson's testimony, the court reiterated its view that the question of the accuracy of the process is a question that is properly presented to the jury for its determination. Defendant first argues that the supergluing technique does not meet the test set forth in Frye v. United States (D.C. Cir.1923), 293 F. 1013. We have accepted the Frye standard for evaluating the admissibility of new scientific techniques. The court in Frye stated: Just when a scientific principle or discovery crosses the line between the experimental and demonstrable stages is difficult to define. Somewhere in this twilight zone the evidential force of the principle must be recognized, and while courts will go a long way in admitting expert testimony deduced from a well-recognized scientific principle or discovery, the thing from which the deduction is made must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs. 293 F. at 1014, quoted with approval in People v. Baynes (1981), 88 Ill.2d 225, 241. See also People v. Partee (1987), 157 Ill. App.3d 231, 260. (We reject the State's argument, unsupported by any citations to authority, that the Frye test does not apply to this particular technique.) Defendant makes two related arguments concerning the technique's reliability. He contends that since supergluing can cause deterioration of ridge impressions, misidentifications may result. He also contends that supergluing may have obliterated all of Little's prints; this possibility, he says, shows that the technique is unreliable. Finally, he argues that the trial court improperly took judicial notice of the reliability of the technique. Neither party addressed the appropriate standard of review. The determination whether to admit expert testimony is committed to the discretion of the trial court ( People v. Mack (1989), 128 Ill.2d 231, 250), and we believe the same principle applies to expert testimony concerning a new scientific technique. (Accord United States v. Downing (3d Cir.1985), 753 F.2d 1224, 1240.) Accordingly, we review the trial court's decision to admit expert testimony concerning the supergluing process to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. The testimony of the two State witnesses established the following: the technique is routinely used by the Chicago police department, along with a variety of other techniques; the Department has used it since 1980 or 1981; those working in the field of print examination and comparison consider it reliable; and the process is used by other jurisdictions in this country, by other countries, and by the FBI. We think this is sufficient to establish that the technique is generally accepted by the relevant scientific community, which in this case is the field of latent print development and comparison. We agree with the trial court's ruling that the other matters complained of affect the weight, not the admissibility, of the evidence. For example, the testimony established that experts in the field consider the technique reliable, despite the fact that, apparently, it is not fully understood how the process works. This latter consideration, then, affects only the weight of the evidence, and may be brought out on cross-examination and argued to the jury. Defendant argues that because supergluing may obliterate prints, misidentifications are possible. Officer Doran testified that misidentifications could occur; Officer Patterson testified, in essence, that this could not occur. However, Patterson is an expert in print comparison and identification, and Doran is not. Moreover, the State in its brief correctly states what defendant is really arguing concerning obliteration of prints: that fingerprints left by some unknown person will haphazardly degrade through supergluing in such a manner that the remaining ridge impressions just happen to match those of defendant. We think it was for the jury to determine the likelihood that this occurred. Defendant's theory that the superglue obliterated all of Little's prints in the apartment again goes to weight, not admissibility. There was evidence that defendant thoroughly cleaned the apartment and painted part of the bedroom after Little left. Moreover, both defendant's and Dobrovolskis' prints were found in various places in the apartment. The jury could have concluded that it would be highly unlikely that the superglue fumes obliterated all of Little's prints, but not those of defendant or of Dobrovolskis. Finally, defendant's contention that the trial court improperly took judicial notice of the reliability of the technique merits little discussion. We agree with defendant that in the circumstances of this case, where the admission of testimony on the technique presented an issue of first impression, the technique's reliability is not a proper subject of judicial notice. (See generally M. Graham, Cleary & Graham's Handbook of Illinois Evidence §§ 201, 202 (4th ed. 1984).) This does not affect our disposition of the issue. The trial court also expressly based its ruling on the testimony given and, in any event, it is well settled that we may affirm a ruling on grounds different from those stated by a lower court. For these reasons, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting expert testimony concerning the supergluing process. Accordingly, the trial court properly admitted the two fingerprints identified as defendant's that were developed using the supergluing process.