What can fingerprints lifted from evidence indicate?

Fingerprints lifted from evidence are crucial in criminal investigations as they can provide definitive indications of the individuals who were present at a crime scene. Each person's fingerprints are unique, making them a reliable form of identification. When law enforcement collects fingerprints from a crime scene and compares them to known databases, they can potentially identify individuals associated with the crime, linking them to the location and the incident itself.

This ability to identify individuals can significantly impact an investigation, as it can help establish a suspect's presence at the scene of a crime or exonerate someone accused of being involved. Fingerprints do not provide information about the locations of other crime scenes, likelihoods of crimes being committed, or sequences of events in a crime, which distinguishes their role in forensic science. Instead, they focus solely on identifying the individuals linked to the evidence collected.