I don’t always testify by the book. First, I’ve testified hundreds of times and no longer get nervous. Second, I don’t like being bullied by an over-aggressive attorney. And third, I tend to be a smartass from time to time.
The crime was armed robbery of a taxi in Sierra Vista, Arizona. It happened when a pedestrian flagged down a cab about 11:00 PM. No sooner had the cab pulled away from the curb than the fare pulled a knife, held it to the driver’s throat, and demanded money. Taking the day’s receipts, he exited the cab by the rear driver’s side door. The cabbie drove straight to the police station.
The police officer powdered the door handle in the back seat and got a palm print. He submitted the lift to my lab with a list of names. Sure enough, I identified the latent palm print to one of the subjects. He was arrested and the case went to trial.
At trial, the prosecutor led me through my standard list of questions. The defense attorney was one I had never seen before. He was short, overweight, and middle aged. His wore his belt high, up over his belly just below his chest. When he stood up, he was reminiscent of Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh in the movie, “Mutiny on the Bounty.”
“Mr. Wertheim,” he began. His tone was sarcastic and adversarial. “Is there any valid scientific way to determine the age of a fingerprint?”
“Well,” I began – and he immediately cut me off by shouting and stabbing his finger at me. “NO SIR, MR. WERTHEIM, THIS IS NOT A “WELL SOMETHING OR OTHER” QUESTION. IS THERE ANY VALID SCIENTIFIC WAY TO DETERMINE THE AGE OF A FINGERPRINT?”
Normally, my answer would have been, “Well, fingerprints are usually very delicate and can be rubbed off by cleaning of surface. This palm print was probably left after the last thorough cleaning of the car door handle, but other than that, no, there’s no way to determine its age.”
Instead, I emulated his gesture and, stabbing my finger at the jury, I shouted “YES! I CAN SAY WITH ABSOLUTE 100% SCIENTIFIC CERTAINTY THAT THE PALMPRINT HAD TO HAVE BEEN LEFT AFTER THE MANUFACTURE DATE OF THE DOOR HANDLE!”
The jury cracked up laughing and the lawyer, completely shocked by my unexpected response, fell backwards against the defense table and slid down, sitting on the floor. After he picked himself back up, he removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his brow for a minute. When he resumed cross examination, he was very polite. He attempted no more bullying and I was very polite and answered the rest of his questions appropriately.
After I was excused, the jury went out for deliberations. They came back in a little over an hour with a guilty verdict. If I ever heard what the sentence was, I have forgotten.