In Chicago, Illinois, on September 19, 1910, Thomas Jennings entered the home of Clarence Hiller, with the intent of burgling the house.
[3] About a mile from the site of the murder, police officers detained Jennings, who was walking with a limp, had a torn, bloodstained coat[1] and had a recently fired revolver.
Police discovered the fingerprint while searching the house, and they photographed the prints and removed the railing, tagging both as evidence.
Chief Justice Orrin Carter wrote an opinion stating there was no "case in which this question has been raised” and “we find no statutes or decisions touching the point in this country."
Orrin wrote "there is a scientific basis for the system of finger-print identification and that the courts are justified in admitting this class of evidence."
The ruling stated, “this method of identification [fingerprinting] is in such general and common use that the courts cannot refuse to take judicial cognizance of it.”[4] Jennings sentence was upheld and he was hanged on February 16, 1912.