Until DNA, forensics has always been pseudoscience voodoo. Detectives I've known guesstimated the fingerprint error rate to be much higher than 1 in 24--and fingerprints used to be the gold standard.

I've even heard a few judges stress the importance of informing jurors before a trial on how most forensic evidence is nowhere near as solid as crime dramas make it out to be. These were sharp guys though, so that is probably not common practice.