National Workshop to Focus on New Forensic Technologies, Methods

The M.S. in Forensic Science and Law program has teamed up with the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence at RTI International to host Courtroom Knowledge of Forensic Technology and the Impact on Frye and Daubert Standards, an educational event designed for legal professionals.

Dr. Fred Fochtman

The workshop, slated for Tuesday, Aug. 9, and Wednesday, Aug. 10 in the Bayer Learning Center, is made possible thanks to a  $74,687.13 grant from RTI international as a subcontract of funding provided by the U.S. Department of Justice. Parts of the workshop will also be held in the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. All workshop attendees will receive a certificate of completion to document two days of continuing education.

The RTI grant will also fund webinars for forensic science practitioners and the legal community. “As a partner school with the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence at RTI, we proposed to provide the workshop for legal professionals based on our unique experience highlighting the integration of forensic science and the law,” said Dr. Fred Fochtman, director of the Forensic Science and Law program. “This provides an opportunity to feature those initiatives.”

The two-day workshop—which is open to criminal court judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys and legal academicians—will introduce and explain new forensic technologies and methods used in solving crimes and their impact on the admissibility of evidence and expert testimony during trials. In addition to presentations, it will feature discussions and case vignettes led by jurists and forensic science practitioners regarding forensic science technology.

Among the workshop presenters are Fochtman; Lyndsie Ferrara, instructor in the Forensic Science and Law program; Jane Moriarty, Carol Los Mansmann Chair in Faculty Scholarship and professor in the School of Law; and John T. Rago, associate professor in the School of Law.

Space is limited 25 attendees. Visit the workshop homepage to learn more and register.