What does it depend on?
Mr. Latona. First of all, I saw him touch it, but I am not even sure he left a print there.
Representative Boggs. Well, I can see it.
Mr. Latona. As to the quality of the print, there again it is simply a matter of what material you have in your hands that made that print, as to how long it will last, how long it will take for it to evaporate.
Actually, when it dries out, it may, in itself, leave a print with such clarity that it would not—even though it would not accept the powder, still by highlighting it, the way you did to see that the print was there, we could photograph it so it would come out just as clear as though it were black on white.
Representative Boggs. Does the material that one touches have any effect?
Mr. Latona. Very definitely. It depends on how hard or smooth the material is.
Representative Boggs. Now, does a weapon lend itself to retaining fingerprints?
Mr. Latona. This particular weapon here, first of all, in my opinion, the metal is very poorly finished. It is absorbent. Believe it or not, there is a certain amount of absorption into this metal itself. It is not finished in the sense that it is highly polished.
Representative Boggs. So this would be conducive to getting a good print, or would it?