The remarkable thing is that we can easily imagine a state of affairs in
which the proposition urged in (1) above can be tested. All we need is
some measure of competence that is not circular, that does not depend on
exposed misidentifications. For instance, one might reasonably treat the
IAI’s certification examination as a measure of competence. In that case,
we would reason as follows:
1. The proposition is urged that: Forensic fingerprint identification is
100% accurate (error-free) when performed by a competent
examiner.
2. Passage of the IAI certification test is a measure of competence.
3. The proposition may now be falsified by the exposure of a case in
which an IAI-certified examiner is implicated in a
misidentification. (Of course, in true falsificationist fashion, even
if no such case is exposed, we still do not know that the
proposition is true.)
4. IAI-certified examiners have been implicated in misidentifications
(supra Part II.A.4.d).
5. The proposition is false.