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Media Advisory: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009; 1 to 2:30 p.m.,
Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, Cal State L.A.
Clues to the future of forensic science
Cal State L.A. forum focuses on NAS report, Supreme Court’s
expert-witness decision, how financial crisis hits crime labs
Note to editors and news directors: Forensic scientists, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and others will get clues tomorrow to what the future holds for crime-scene investigations and to the analysis and use of criminal evidence. The event is “Challenges Facing Forensic Science: Bringing to Light Evolving Changes and Avoiding the Pitfalls,” the annual Gilbert W. Lindsay Endowed Public Policy Forum of the California Forensic Science Institute (CFSI) of Cal State L.A.
The forum will be from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the William T. Fujioka Room of the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center at Cal State L.A. Participants will include leading state, county and city officials, along with researchers and other experts (see partial list below).
According to CFSI Executive Director Rose Ochi, “This dialogue will delve into the pressing forensic-science concerns facing the criminal justice system.” These are among the topics:
- Ramifications of a recent National Academy of Science Report detailing the challenges of forensic science use, training and research.
- A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision about expert witness testimony (Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts).
- Impact of budget cuts on crime laboratories.
Reporters are welcome to attend the forum to gain background into a range of forensic-science issues. The best opportunities for news interviews will be shortly before the event, immediately after, or possibly outside the room during the event. News filming of speakers during the forum is discouraged.
To RSVP or to make other arrangements, call Emily Middleton of CFSI at 323-343-4877 or Cal State L.A. Public Affairs at 323-343-3050.
WHAT: “Challenges Facing Forensic Science” – public policy forum of the California Forensic Science Institute at Cal State L.A.
WHEN: 1-2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009.
WHERE:: William T. Fujioka Room, Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center at Cal State L.A. (enter campus from Eastern Ave., just off 10 freeway, then make first right). For maps and directions: www.calstatela.edu/univ/maps.
WHO: Elected officials, legal experts, law-enforcement representatives, public defenders, prosecutors, educators and researchers, among them:
- Steve Cooley, District Attorney, County of Los Angeles
- Carmen Trutanich, City Attorney, City of Los Angeles
- Greg Matheson, Director, L.A. Police Department crime lab
- David Betkey, Chief, Technical Services Division, L.A. Sheriff’s Department
- Barry Fisher, long-time former director (now retired), LASD crime lab
- Jill Spriggs, Chief, California Dept. of Justice Bureau of Forensic Service
- Dane Gillette, Chair, Crime Lab Task Force, Calif. Attorney General’s Office
# # #
The California Forensic Science Institute is a partnership among California State University, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; and Los Angeles Police Department. Past topics of the CFSI Gilbert W. Lindsay Endowed Public Policy Forums include homeland security, Proposition 69 (the DNA initiative), the O.J. Simpson trial, and detection of child abuse.
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 210,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu