# I'm a Gastronomic Cheat

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-gastronomic-cheat/557779>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 20, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-gastronomic-cheat/557779 "2010-10-20T14:57:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-gastronomic-cheat/557779/21 "2010-10-20T23:53:45Z")

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> [@Quercus](#):
>
> Hey, we’re just having a friendly conversation here. I mean, you want to cooperate, right? It’s not like you’ve got something to hide, is it?

If you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of. Really. I promise. Don’t worry.

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**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-gastronomic-cheat/557779/22 "2010-10-21T01:13:12Z")

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To continue on the theme,

if they do “offer me a soda” in the station, after I have requested my laywer, are they allowed to use the discarded bottle to collect DNA?

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**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-gastronomic-cheat/557779/23 "2010-10-21T01:38:17Z")

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> [@Bill\_Door](#):
>
> Any act of a man, and especially violent acts as in a crime, cannot happen without leaving a trace.

Well, I believe that premise may depend somewhat on your crime day [wardrobe](http://www.spacetoys.com/prodimages/apollo11front.jpg.jpg)choice.

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**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-gastronomic-cheat/557779/24 "2010-10-21T04:21:16Z")

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> [@Ocardowin](#):
>
> Fingerprints, on the other hand, are almost guaranteed unless you were consciously thinking about not touching anything/wearing gloves.

[quote clipped]

Fingerprints are generally very unreliable. Sometimes you get luck and get a good one on the scene but, for the most part, they’ll be partial prints and smudges. If you’ve ever been fingerprinted (or done fingerprinting), think about how much care is taken (and how many retries it often takes) to get good prints. On ink cards, most cops and such will just say, “meh, good enough” because they don’t feel like starting a new card all over again. With the new electronic fingerprinting tools that submit to IAFIS, the system will look at what seems to be a perfectly good print and say (something like) “F you. Do it again. And again. And again.”

Sweaty fingers (which most people have during the commission of a crime? FAIL

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