# Fingerprinted after jury verdict?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingerprinted-after-jury-verdict/588115
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 7, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingerprinted-after-jury-verdict/588115 "2011-07-07T01:33:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingerprinted-after-jury-verdict/588115/1 "2011-07-07T01:33:31Z")

</div>

Emphasis below–if she had been on trial for weeks, wouldn’t the system already have a set of fingerprints?

\<snip\> from [http://www.wftv.com/news/28445941/detail.html](http://www.wftv.com/news/28445941/detail.html)

Casey’s parents, Cindy and George Anthony left the courtroom without speaking to her as the judge thanked the jury.

Juror number seven, one of the seven women on the panel, appeared to cry as she left court.

Once the jury left, Casey hugged her attorneys and squealed out loud. The lawyers high-fived one another, and minutes later Casey laughed as **she was fingerprinted on the convictions for lying to detectives.**

\<end snip\>

Just wondering how this works.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingerprinted-after-jury-verdict/588115/2 "2011-07-07T01:56:36Z")

</div>

It’s normal to be fingerprinted in conjunction with a criminal conviction, in order to make a record affirmatively linking the individual with the conviction. Say I’m being sentenced for a crime and vehemently denying that I’m the same “pravnik Johnson” that previously received a prison sentence for committing that exact same crime ten years ago. The prosecutor can get a certified copy of the judgment and fingerprints of the person who _was_ convicted of that crime and sent to prison for it, and then get a peace officer who can do fingerprint comparisons to make inked prints of my fingertips and compare them with the prints connected with the judgment. If he makes a positive match between the two, it pretty much sinks any argument that I’m not the same guy.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fingerprinted-after-jury-verdict/588115/3 "2011-07-07T02:07:59Z")

</div>

> [@parsnip](#):
>
> Emphasis below–if she had been on trial for weeks, wouldn’t the system already have a set of fingerprints?

Missed this part - the arresting agency will usually have a copy of the persons fingerprints, but these are connected with the arrest and aren’t directly linked with the court records regarding the conviction. Having independent fingerprint records linked with the judicial records proving the conviction is the most efficient way of proving the convicted person’s identity should it become an issue later.