Thumbed
Entry was made into a Hollywood home through a glass pane in the front door. A bicycle, Sony game consoles, and various other items were stolen from the house. The responding officers lifted a latent thumbprint from a coke bottle found inside the refrigerator. The thumbprint matched a previously obtained fingerprint of Franchezca S. Franchezca was arrested and charged with burglary of a dwelling and grand theft. Despite not having any previous adult record, Franchezca was offered a prison sentence because of her scoresheet points.
At trial, I established that Franchezca was acquainted with a tenant in the home and that she attended a get together at the home while the homeowner was on vacation. During cross examination, the fingerprint examiner admitted that she had no way of determining when the fingerprint was placed on the coke bottle or whether or not the fingerprint, standing alone, proved that anything criminal occurred. The jury acquitted Franchezca and she walked out of the courtroom in the arms of her mother.
