John Jay College - The Center for Modern Forensic Practice

Forensic Science & Criminalistics

CRIMINALISTICS

Peter De Forest
Dr. Peter R. De Forest is Professor of Criminalistics at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York where he has taught for 37 years. Prior to joining the faculty and helping to found the Forensic Science BS, MS, and Ph.D. Programs at John Jay and the City University of New York, he worked in several laboratories. He began his career in forensic science at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Crime Laboratory, Ventura, California in 1960. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree (1964) in Criminalistics and a Doctor of Criminology Degree in Criminalistics (1969) from the University of California at Berkeley, under Dr. Paul L. Kirk. In addition to his university teaching and research activities, he also serves as a scientific consultant and expert witness for police departments, prosecutor’s offices, municipal law departments, public defender agencies, and private attorneys in criminal and civil casework in the US and Canada. The consultation has included advisory panel membership on major case investigations in the UK. He is the author or co-author of several book chapters, a textbook, and numerous articles in scientific journals. In addition to membership in several scientific societies, he served as a member of the editorial boards of journals including the Journal of Forensic Sciences. For over ten years, dating from the inception of the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC), Professor De Forest served as the chairman of ABC Examination Committee, which was responsible for designing and administering certification examinations in a range of forensic science specialties. He has presented lectures and workshops for several professional societies and in other universities and has served as Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. During the fall 1997 semester he served as Exchange Professor with the National Crime Faculty at the Police Staff College, Bramshill, England and also delivered the Founders Lecture for the California Association of Criminalists. Dr. De Forest is a past commissioner with the Forensic Science Program Accreditation Commission (FEPAC) of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and is Criminalistics Section Chairman of the AAFS for 2006-2007. Awards received include the Paul L. Kirk Award (1999) of the Criminalistics Section of the AAFS.

Thomas A. Kubic, J.D. , Ph.D.
Forensic Science, City University of New York (2003), Law, St. John’s University (1979). Associate Professor of Forensic Chemistry. Research: The application of light and electron microscopy as well as vibrational and atomic spectroscopy to the analysis of transfer evidence materials of milligram and microgram amounts. X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy with computerized image analysis applied to physical evidence. Crime scene analysis and reconstruction.

Peter Diaczuk, Director of Forensic Science Training
Director of Forensic Science Training, Center for Modern Forensic Practice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY Adjunct Instructor, Science Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY Admissions Committee, Master’s Program in Forensic Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY Curriculum Committee, Master’s Program in Forensic Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

Active in several professional organizations, including: New York Microscopical Society (Life member, Fellow and current President), Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists (member and Board of Directors), American Society of Testing and Materials (E30 Committee on Forensic Science, E30.01 Subcommittee on Criminalistics), American Board of Criminalistics (Diplomate), the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (Full Member of the Criminalistics Section), and member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Research performed includes: survivability of fingerprints on firearms under water, differentiating entry from exit bullet holes in garments, deposition of blood spatter from gunshot wounds, catastrophic failure of ammunition from exposure to heat from a fire scene, retinal damage due to plastic (air soft) pellet impact with the cornea, analysis of bullet ricochet from yielding and non-yielding surfaces, comparison of evidence packaging methods, evaluation of Kevlar fibers as a bullet recovery medium and its effect on the survivability of stria, comparison of water tank, elastomer spheres, soap cubes, wax cubes and polymer sheets for bullet recovery, comparison of gunshot residue retention values on synthetic fibers as a function of melting point, determination of explosive precursors by polarized light microscopy, optical characteristics of an improvised explosive, and analysis of containment vessels used for chemical reaction bombs.

Received Jerome Metzner Graduate Award in Forensic Science for excellence in forensic microtechniques, John Jay College, 2003.

Has been on panel discussions, given over 50 presentations on forensic science topics, and has conducted five workshops on scientific firearm and toolmark examination.

Certified instructor in rifle, pistol, and shotgun. Chief range safety officer.

Qualified as expert witness on firearms, trace evidence, and crime scene reconstruction for courts in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Nick Petraco Sr.
Nicholas Petraco earned a B.S. in chemistry and an M.S. in forensic science from John Jay College of the City University of New York. He served as a Detective/Criminalist at New York City's Police Laboratory from 1968 to 1990 and held the position of senior forensic microscopist of the laboratory's trace section between 1982 and 1990, when he became a private forensic consultant. In addition to participating in the professional activities listed below. Petraco is a contracted forensic consultant to the New York City Police Department forensic investigation division since 1999. His duties as a forensic consultant include teaching and lecturing to new members of both the forensic laboratory and crime scene unit. Currently, he continues to provide consultant services to the department.

Throughout his career, he also served as an adjunct lecturer at John Jay College and was an associate professor at St. John's University. Currently, he is a fulltime assistant professor at John Jay College with the science department. Mr. Petraco has help educate thousands of forensic scientists, worked on more than 5000 death investigations on behalf of prosecution and defense attorneys, and testified as an expert in more than 500 trials conducted in local, state, and federal criminal and civil courts.

Petraco is a fellow of the New York Microscopical Society (FNYMS), fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists (FAAFS), diplomat of the American Board of Criminalistics (DABC), and a member of the Committee on Forensic Hair Comparisons. He served as chairperson of the SWGMAT forensic hair committee from 1997 to 2001. He has presented over 100 papers at scientific meetings and symposia, published over 50 articles in the forensic literature, and has authored and co-authored six book chapters and several books and CD’s on various subjects in forensic science, microscopy and crime scene examination.

Nicholas D. K. Petraco
Nicholas D. K. Petraco earned a bachelors degree in chemistry from Colgate University in 1998 and a doctorate in quantum chemistry from the University of Georgia in 2002. He was a postdoctoral fellow in applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo from 2002-2004 where after he was appointed to a assistant professorship in chemistry at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center, City University of New York. His current research interests are in the application of statistical pattern recognition methods to trace evidence. He is also interested in the general application of mathematics and computers to physical evidence analysis problems in forensic science and the study of forensically important molecules using theoretical chemistry.

Linda Rourke
Linda Chiu Rourke is a Lecturer of Criminalistics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Linda graduated from the University of Pennsylvania magna cum laude with distinction in biochemistry. After working in a medical biochemistry lab for several years, she became interested in forensic science and entered the Criminal Justice Doctoral Program at the CUNY Graduate Center under the forensic science specialization. Since then, she has taught both undergraduate and graduate level forensic science courses at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, consulted on numerous cases, conducted forensic science workshops to train high school teachers, and completed an en route master of science degree in forensic science at John Jay College and a master of philosophy degree in criminal justice at the CUNY Graduate Center. She was a recipient of the 6th Annual Emerging Forensic Scientist Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the George W. Neighbor Jr. Memorial Scholarship Award from the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists and is a diplomate of the American Board of Criminalistics. She is also a Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center working on her dissertation research involving forensic ancestry analysis.

DNA

Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky is the Chairman of the Department of Sciences and has published extensively on the subject of forensic DNA analysis and has made many presentations at regional, national and international meetings. As an internationally renowned forensic scientist he has served as advisor to criminalistics laboratories in several countries including Mexico, China, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and others. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Forensic Examiners and is a Board Certified Forensic Examiner. He has received numerous grants for both research projects and institutional development projects. He has received numerous honors including the Federal Law Enforcement Officers “Civilian Award.

Dr. Margaret Wallace, Interim Director MS Program in Forensic Science
Professor Wallace received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Professor Wallace joined the Department of Sciences at John Jay College in the Fall 1999 semester. Prior to joining John Jay, Professor Wallace worked as a Forensic DNA Analyst at the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Dr. Wallace has taught Biology, Genetics, and Molecular Biology at John Jay and acted as the Course Coordinator for the Modern Biology and Molecular Biology series. Professor Wallace is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Women in Science, Council on Forensic Science Education, National Association of Biology Teachers, New York Academy of Sciences, New York Biology Teachers’ Association, Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists, and Sigma Xi. Dr. Wallace is actively engaged in research and has mentored three Ph.D., 15 Master’s and four undergraduate student research projects. Professor Wallace’s research interests include human identification using PCR-STRs, plant and insect genotyping using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), and microbial forensics. Professor Wallace has published in the fields of forensic biology and microbial genomics.

Richard Stripp
Dr. Richard Stripp is an expert toxicologist with 23 years of experience specializing in forensic, clinical, and general toxicology. His formal education and training has focused on the toxicological and pharmacological aspects of drug, chemical and alcohol exposure. He received his Doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the St. John’s University School of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. He has gained extensive experience while practicing toxicology at a Medical Examiner's Office, the United States Government, and academia. He currently holds a faculty appointment at the internationally recognized Forensic Science Program at The City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he teaches various courses in forensic pharmacology, forensic toxicology, and the toxicology of environmental and occupational chemicals. Dr. Stripp also has an active research program and he has authored numerous scientific publications, articles and books related to toxicology. As a qualified toxicologist, Dr. Stripp also provides expert toxicological services to various professionals seeking scientific advisement and/or expert testimony.

Donald Hoffman, Ph.D., DABFT
Donald B. Hoffman, Ph.D., DABFT, is currently Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Sciences at John Jay College where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in forensic toxicology and pharmacology. Prior to this he was a toxicologist for twenty seven years in the Toxicology Department of the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner from which he retired with the title of Research Scientist II. He holds a B.A. cum laude in Chemistry from New York University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Columbia University. He has had extensive experience as an expert witness in forensic toxicology in both civil and criminal cases, has lectured widely to law enforcement, fire investigation, legal, medical and other groups, and also currently maintains a private consulting practice in forensic toxicology. He has co-authored numerous articles in the area of forensic toxicology. He is a member of numerous professional forensic science and forensic toxicology organizations including the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, The Society of Forensic Toxicologists, The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists, and the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists, as well as of The American Chemical Society, The New York Academy of Sciences and The Research Society of Sigma XI. His current research interests involve analysis of herbal products and medicines for drugs and toxic substances, the effects of drugs on endocrine systems, and method development. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology.