I have a trial where I need to prove up two prior felonies, and I had planned to do so by obtaining a fingerprint sample from the Defendant on the day of trial outside of the presence of the jury, which has been standard practice for years in our courts.

My judge (new to the bench) has said he won't order the D give the sample. He acknowledges and accepts the case law (Schmerber v. CA, 384 US 757 (1966); De La Rosa v. State of TX 414 S.W.2d 668) that says its not a violation of his 5th A rights because a fingerprint sample is not a protected communication, but is insisting that unless there is law explicitly saying that he can or must order the sample, then he is not going to.

Anyone else encounter this before or have any advice?

I have a backup plan to call the jailer who booked him in to testify to the prints taken on the day of arrest and use those for comparison purposes for the prior judgments, but going forward I would like to just get the samples in court and call one of our investigators and not have to worry about calling a jailer who may or may not still be employed given the high turnover at the jail.

I know the Judge's job is not to make mine easier, but it seems like he is being needlessly nit-picky, especially since there is plenty of case law to give him support to order the fingerprint sample.

Look at Ballard v. State from Court of Criminal Appeals--487 S.W.2d 724

The appellant's counsel has filed a brief concluding that ‘counsel for appellant is unable, in good faith, to urge upon this court any points of error that would require the reversal of appellant's conviction’ and further, that ‘appellant's appeal is of a frivolous nature.’
In compliance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967) and Gainous v. State, 436 S.W.2d 137 (Tex.Cr.App.1969), appellant presents one arguable ground of error. Appellant contends that the taking of his fingerprints during the punishment phase of his trial for comparison purposes ‘forced him to testify against himself.’ This contention is without merit. This court has held in numerous cases that fingerprints may be taken at the time of trial for comparison purposes. Gage v. State, 387 S.W.2d 679 (Tex.Cr.App.1964); Villareal v. State, 468 S.W.2d 837 (Tex.Cr.App.1971) and the cases cited therein.