Law for Forensic Scientists

Kenneth E. Melson, JD is a graduate of Denison University and the George Washington University Law School. He has been a county prosecutor, an Assistant United States Attorney, a court-appointed U.S. Attorney, the Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, an acting Director of the ATF, and an attorney in an Inspector General’s office. He has been an Adjunct Professor at the GWU School of Law for over 35 years and taught criminal law in the Department of Forensic Sciences. He has served as the Senior Advisor on Forensic Science in the Office of Legal Policy at the US Department of Justice. He was a co-chair of the Subcommittee on Forensic Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. He was the President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 2003-2004.Victor W. Weedn, MD, JD is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, South Texas College of Law, and the Southwestern Medical School. He has been employed as a medical examiner, crime lab director, research scientist, and forensic science and law professor. He has taught forensic science and law courses at various institutions. He founded the DNA identification program for the U.S. military, where he helped to pioneer STR and mtDNA technologies. He developed the current NAME Inspection and Accreditation program. He has twice testified to the U.S. Congress, drafted legislation that was later enacted, and drafted several amicus briefs for NAME for state and federal courts that proved persuasive. He was the President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences from 2015 to 2016. He served as the Senior Forensic Advisor to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates from late 2016 to 2017. He participated on the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor in 2017 and 2018.

• 1. Introduction to the Law 2. Due Process 3. Judicial Apparatus 4. Civil Law 5. Crimes and Defenses 6. Criminal Procedure 7. Search and Seizure I: Reasonableness 8. Search and Seizure II: Warrant Searches 9. Search and Seizure III: Warrantless Searches 10. Forensic Evidence I: Collection 11. Forensic Evidence II: Integrity and Preservation 12. Scientific Evidence I: The Science 13. Scientific Evidence II: Admissibility 14. Scientific Evidence III: Weight 15. Sixth Amendment Confrontation 16. Pretrial, Trial, & Appellate Procedures 17. Expert Testimony