ULW
See Universal Latent Workstation.
Ulna
The larger of the two bones of the forearm, on the palmar side of the little finger.
The inner and longer of the two bones of the human forearm on the same side as the little finger.
Ultraviolet
Wavelengths of light shorter than that of the visible spectrum, between 10 and 400 nm.
Un-Du ®
Product used to separate adhesive tapes.
SWGFAST, Glossary – Consolidated 09-09-03 ver. 1.0
Unique
Being the only one of its kind.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=unique 02-27-03
Having no equal; one.
Quantitative-Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis, David R. Ashbaugh 1999 CRC Press
Unique Characteristics
Characteristics used to individualize; specific details.
Quantitative-Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis, David R. Ashbaugh 1999 CRC Press
Uniqueness
The premise that all fingerprints, friction skin, are unique has been researched to the point of general acceptance. Research includes inductive reasoning and includes research into how friction skin is formed, i.e., differential growth. General acceptance indicates that reasonable doubt for the premise has been eliminated. Uniqueness is separate and apart from sufficiency or the strength of a conclusion.
Very uncommon, unusual, atypical, or remarkable; a degree of distinguishing distinctiveness.
Quantitative-Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis, David R. Ashbaugh 1999 CRC Press
United States v. Byron Mitchell (1999)
This was the first legal case where fingerprints evidence was challenged at a Daubert hearing. The defense claimed that the state had failed to establish the scientific validity of latent prints stating, “Is there a scientific basis for a fingerprint examiner to make an identification, of absolute certainty, from a small distorted latent fingerprint fragment”. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s decision was that the defense’s motion to exclude fingerprint evidence was denied.
United States v. Henthorn (1991)
An extension of the Giglio decision that applies to requests for the personnel records of government witnesses.
See Brady and Giglio v. United States.
United States v. Parks (1991)
“The only known fingerprint case in which a federal trial court has performed the type of analysis that is now mandated by Daubert, the district court excluded the government’s fingerprint identification evidence. United States v. Parks (C.D. Cal. 1991) (No. CR-91-358-JSL) (Ex. 48). The district court in Parks reached its determination after hearing from three different fingerprint experts produced by the government in an effort to have the evidence admitted. In excluding the evidence, the district court recognized, among other things, the lack of testing that has been done in the field, the failure of latent fingerprint examiners to employ uniform objective standards, and the minimal training that latent fingerprint examiners typically receive.”
http://www.goextranet.com/Seminars/Federal/FingerprintReply.htm 08-12-2004
The judge decided not to admit the evidence in this case because he had several concerns. The initial examiner, Diana Castro, testified to a point standard (8 points) however, she could not state why that standard was used. The judge concluded there were no written documents or studies to support this standard and therefore the conclusion was not scientific. The supervisor, Darnell Carter, testified that the office standard was 10 points however, it could be reduced with a supervisor’s approval. The supervisor could offer no literature to support this policy. The 3rd expert was an IAI Certified Examiner that worked for the United States Postal Inspection Service, Steven Kasarsky. He testified that no studies on errors had been done but he knew of cases where 10 points of agree were found in different prints. He stated that practitioners all have independent standards and that practitioners do not know if a dissimilarity exists in an area that was not left, they must guess.
United States v. Plaza (2002)
Plaza was one of four people being charged as being a hit man. There were latent prints in the case and the defense decided to challenge the fingerprint evidence. A Daubert hearing was held. Federal Judge Louis Pollak ruled that fingerprint experts could not tell juries that two fingerprints matched. It was noted that fingerprints were unique and permanent however, the science did not meet the Daubert test. Judge Pollak reversed his decision two months later.
Universal Latent Workstation (ULW)
The Universal Latent Workstation (ULW) is software that provides functionality to create, edit, and view latent fingerprint transactions. ULW provides operational access to FBI IAFIS/NGI latent print services, as well as enabling cross-jurisdictional interoperability between vendor-specific AFIS feature formats. ULW also serves as a reference implementation to the extended friction ridge feature set, and is often used as a multi-purpose tool by fingerprint researchers. ULW was designed, developed, and maintained by Noblis (previously known as Mitretek Systems) under contract to the Federal Bureau of Investigation starting in 1998; ULW was originally based on concepts by Tom Hopper (FBI) and designed by Austin Hicklin (Noblis).
University of Applied Science
See Institute of Applied Science.
Urea
One of the organic elements in eccrine sweat.
Utility
Usefulness.
Synonymous with sufficiency for value determinations.