State v. Burrell

HEDRICK, Judge.

Defendant first contends that the trial court erred in allowing Stephen Jones of the SBI, an expert in the field of fingerprint identification, to testify that in his opinion the latent fingerprint lifted from the door knob (Exhibit 1) matched the known print of the defendant’s left index finger. Based upon *63an alleged break in the chain of custody of Exhibit 1 prior to Jones’ receipt of it at his office in Raleigh, defendant argues that the State failed to show that Jones’ opinion testimony was predicated upon an examination of a fingerprint lifted from the crime scene.

The…