Opinion ID: 1658324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Did the trial court err in admitting into evidence fingerprint exemplars of the appellant?

Text: During the trial, two fingerprint cards were introduced into evidence to prove the latent fingerprint taken from one of the stolen guns was the fingerprint of Gary Dale Lightsey. On appeal, appellant argues the exemplars constituted proof of another crime and were therefore inadmissible. The fingerprint cards contained no evidence that a prior crime was committed. The only evidence hinting that a prior crime was committed was the testimony of Officer Jim Smith that he took the fingerprints of Gary Lightsey prior to October 22, 1982. In addition, the fingerprint exemplars were introduced to show identification of the defendant. Generally, evidence of other offenses is inadmissible in a criminal trial. One of the exceptions to the general rule is when the evidence is necessary to identify the defendant. Griffin v. State, 482 So.2d 233 (Miss. 1986); Barnette v. State, 481 So.2d 788 (Miss. 1985); Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743 (Miss. 1984). For the above-mentioned reasons, the Court finds there was no error committed in allowing the fingerprint exemplars to be introduced into evidence.