27 July, 2007

Truth in fiction

That staple of detective thrillers, incriminating fingerprints found on a gun, mightn't be entirely realistic.

According to evidence presented in Phil Spector's murder trial and reported by the BBC, usable fingerprints are relatively unlikely to be left on the shiny metal or wooden grip on a handgun; a forensic specialist says that "We only get fingerprints off guns 8 to 10% of the time".