Forensic DNA Expert Witness Testimony
Pre-registration $600.00 | 90-Day Access
Course Description
Producing reliable forensic DNA results is only part of the forensic scientist's responsibility. When those results enter the courtroom, the expert must be prepared to explain complex scientific findings accurately, objectively, and in language that judges and juries can understand.
Forensic DNA Expert Witness Testimony prepares forensic DNA professionals and other participants for the scientific, legal, and communication challenges associated with presenting DNA evidence in court.
The course moves beyond laboratory analysis to examine expert witness preparation, admissibility, direct and cross-examination, activity-level reporting, secondary DNA transfer, legal issues, and courtroom testimony. Through instruction and mock-court applications, participants will explore how forensic DNA evidence may be challenged and how experts can effectively communicate both the strengths and limitations of their scientific findings.
The goal is not simply to teach participants how to answer questions—it is to develop knowledgeable, impartial, prepared, and effective forensic expert witnesses.
DNA LEARNING SERIES AVAILABLE
Includes this course and much more!
BUNDLE AS ONE COMPLETE DNA LEARNING SERIES
FORENSIC DNA FUNDAMENTALS
Obtain an introduction to the scientific principles, laboratory processes, casework considerations, and emerging technologies that form the foundation of modern forensic DNA analysis.
ADVANCED DNA
Take your knowledge further with advanced concepts and applications encountered in modern forensic DNA analysis.
DNA LABORATORY PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
Explore the laboratory processes, techniques, and considerations involved in the examination and processing of forensic DNA evidence.
FORENSIC DNA EXPERT WITNESS TESTIMONY
Develop the knowledge and confidence needed to effectively communicate forensic DNA findings in the courtroom and withstand the challenges of expert testimony.
Course Modules
Mock Court
Experience the challenges of presenting forensic DNA evidence through realistic mock courtroom exercises.
Participants will explore the progression of expert testimony, including qualification of the expert, presentation of credentials, direct examination, cross-examination, redirect examination, and challenges to scientific findings.
Emphasis is placed on listening carefully, answering the question asked, explaining technical concepts in understandable language, maintaining professionalism, recognizing potentially misleading or compound questions, and remaining objective under challenging examination.
Participants will examine strategies for communicating DNA terminology, laboratory processes, statistical findings, limitations, and conclusions without overstating the scientific evidence.
Admissibility
Explore the legal principles that determine whether forensic DNA evidence and expert testimony may be presented in court.
This module introduces participants to the expert's role in the admissibility process and examines issues surrounding scientific reliability, qualifications, methodology, validation, quality assurance, limitations, and the foundation necessary to support expert opinions.
Participants will explore concepts associated with Federal Rule of Evidence 702, Daubert considerations, expert qualifications, validation, laboratory procedures, proficiency testing, quality systems, and challenges to scientific testimony.
The module emphasizes the importance of understanding not only how an analysis was performed, but also how the expert can explain and support the scientific basis for the methods and conclusions presented.
Activity-Level, Secondary Transfer, & Legal Issues
Finding someone's DNA on an item can help answer an important question:
Whose DNA may be present?
But it does not necessarily answer:
How did the DNA get there?
This module examines the important distinction between sub-source-level and activity-level evaluations in forensic DNA interpretation.
Participants will explore concepts involving DNA transfer, persistence, prevalence, recovery, and secondary transfer, as well as the scientific limitations associated with determining how or when DNA was deposited.
Special attention is given to avoiding conclusions that extend beyond what the scientific findings can support and to communicating uncertainty appropriately when discussing competing explanations for the presence of DNA.
Participants will also examine how questions involving transfer and activity may arise during direct and cross-examination.
Legal Issues
Explore legal and courtroom issues that forensic DNA experts may encounter before and during testimony.
Topics include the expert's responsibilities to the court, impartiality, discovery and case-file review, documentation, report language, preparation with attorneys, testimony limitations, demonstrative exhibits, scientific literature, laboratory procedures, quality records, proficiency testing, and challenges to an expert's methodology or conclusions.
Participants will examine how attorneys may question DNA evidence and learn strategies for remaining within the boundaries of their expertise while providing scientifically accurate, clear, and defensible testimony.
Course Brochure (PDF)
Who Should Take This Course?
Forensic DNA Expert Witness Testimony is designed for forensic DNA analysts, forensic scientists, laboratory personnel, technical reviewers, forensic consultants, laboratory supervisors, and other professionals who may be required to explain or defend DNA findings in depositions, hearings, or courtroom proceedings.
The course may also benefit prosecutors, defense attorneys, investigators, and other criminal justice professionals seeking a better understanding of how forensic DNA evidence is presented, evaluated, and challenged in court.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of Forensic DNA Expert Witness Testimony, participants should be better prepared to:
• Understand the role and responsibilities of the forensic DNA expert witness.
• Prepare effectively for courtroom testimony.
• Explain complex DNA concepts in language understandable to judges and juries.
• Present scientific findings clearly without overstating conclusions.
• Understand fundamental considerations surrounding the admissibility of forensic DNA evidence and expert testimony.
• Recognize how qualifications, validation, quality systems, proficiency testing, procedures, and scientific literature may become issues during testimony.
• Distinguish between source-level and activity-level questions.
• Explain the importance of DNA transfer, persistence, recovery, and secondary transfer when evaluating activity-level propositions.
• Recognize the limitations associated with determining how, when, or under what circumstances DNA was deposited.
• Respond effectively to direct and cross-examination.
• Recognize leading, compound, hypothetical, and potentially misleading questions.
• Maintain objectivity and professionalism during challenging testimony.
• Understand common legal issues that may affect forensic DNA testimony.
• Remain within the limits of the scientific evidence and the expert's area of expertise.
Instructor
DNA Labs International
DLI Instructor Ashley Korsakas
Ashley Korsakas has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Forensic Biochemistry and an Associate of Science degree in Criminal Justice, both from Northern Michigan University. She also has a Master of Applied Science degree from the University of Nebraska. She is currently a Senior DNA Analyst as well as the Training Manager at DNA Labs International (Deerfield Beach, FL) and has worked there since 2021. As the training manager, Ashley oversees and manages the training program for all analysts, serologists, and technicians in the laboratory. In her role as a DNA analyst, she reviews and interprets data, writes reports, performs technical reviews, and testifies. Prior to her current role, Ashley worked as a Forensic DNA Analyst at Signature Science and a Forensic Scientist at the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory (both in Austin, TX). She has over 10 years of experience in forensic biology casework.
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Instructor
DNA Labs International
DLI Instructor Amanda Murray
Amanda Murray has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The College of New Jersey and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Pharmacology from New York Medical College. She is a Senior DNA Analyst, Analyst Team Lead, and Training Analyst Specialist at DNA Labs International. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Pace University where she teaches Forensic Biology, Forensic Pharmacology, and Forensic Seminar courses for undergraduate and graduate students. She has provided expert witness testimony in both national and international criminal court proceedings. Amanda is passionate about bridging the gap between the academic and forensic laboratory settings as well as ensuring the integrity, quality and reliability of forensic DNA testing through proper training and continuing education. Prior to her role at DNA Labs International, she was a Criminalist in the Forensic Biology department of the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
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Instructor
DNA Labs International
DLI Instructor Rachel Oefelein
Rachel Oefelein is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at DNA Labs International (DLI) and Laboratory Director. She received her MSc in Forensic Science from the University of Strathclyde, her BS in Criminal Justice, with a Forensic Science Minor, from Loyola University
of New Orleans, and her PhD from Griffith University. Previous employment included the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) for nearly five years and an internship at the Instytut Ekspertyz Sądowych, the Forensic Laboratory in Krakow, Poland. Rachel has
testified in fourteen Florida counties, nine states and U.S. Territories, and six countries as an expert witness for both the prosecution and the defense in misdemeanor and felony trials, as well as William, Frye, Daubert, and Arthur hearings. Since joining DNA Labs International in 2014, Rachel was instrumental in implementing STRmix™ for five profiling systems, rootless hair shaft testing, and Next Generation Sequencing in three profiling systems. She also innovated and implemented DLI’s successful SpentShell™ technology for fired cartridge casings.
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Instructor
DNA Labs International
DLI Instructor Jerome Remm
Jerome Remm is a Senior DNA Analyst with more than 15 years of experience in forensic biology and DNA casework across state crime laboratories and private forensic laboratories. At DNA Labs International, he performs complex DNA analyses, validates new analytical methods, supports laboratory quality, training, and safety programs, and provides expert witness testimony in state, federal, and international courts. He holds a Master of Forensic Science with honors from Nebraska Wesleyan University and maintains American Board of Criminalistics certification in Molecular Biology, with specialized expertise in STR analysis, next-generation sequencing, forensic genetic genealogy, quality assurance, and DNA mixture interpretation. His extensive technical and courtroom experience has made him a trusted expert in the analysis, interpretation, and presentation of forensic DNA evidence.
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Instructor
DNA Labs International
DLI Instructor Cristina Servidio
Cristina Servidio is the Chief Operating Officer and Technical Leader at DNA Labs International, where she manages laboratory operations and oversees the analysis of forensic DNA evidence. Cristina holds a Master of Forensic Science in Forensic Molecular Biology from The George Washington University and both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from The Catholic University of America. She has provided expert testimony in both domestic and international court systems, including Daubert and Frye hearings. Previously, she spent six years at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL), helping identify remains of fallen soldiers from historic military conflicts through mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analysis.
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