2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

James Doyle

Of Counsel

at Bassil & Budreau

James Doyle, of counsel to Bassil & Budreau in Boston, Massachusetts, is a veteran litigator and 

writer. The former head of the statewide Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public 

Counsel Services in Massachusetts, his experience includes constitutional litigation, numerous 

homicide trials and appeals, the representation of crime victims, and important civil rights 

cases. He is the author of True Witness, (2005) the history of the collision between the science 

of memory and the legal system and the co-author (with Elizabeth Loftus) of Eyewitness 

Testimony: Civil and Criminal, the principal treatise for lawyers in eyewitness cases. He has 

published numerous articles on evidence, race in criminal justice, and capital punishment. He 

was a faculty member at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he also served as 

Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Clinic. He was the founding Director of The Center For 

Modern Forensic Practice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and its Arson Screening 

Project. During 2012-2014 he was a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Justice, where he 

devised and launched NIJ's Sentinel Events Initiative, and authored the principal essay in the 

NIJ's Special Report, Mending Justice: Sentinel Event Reviews. He is an Advisor to the American 

Law Institute's Project on Policing and a consultant to the National Institute of Justice. He 

received his B.A. from Trinity College, J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, and 

LL.M from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an E. Barrett Prettyman/LEAA 

Fellow.
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Lynn Garcia

General Counsel

Texas Forensic Science Commission

Lynn Garcia serves as general counsel to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, a position she 

has held since December 2010. As legal advisor to the Commission, Ms. Garcia's primary 

responsibility is to assist nine Commissioners appointed by the Governor with investigating 

allegations of professional negligence and misconduct in accredited crime laboratories.

Ms. Garcia manages complaints received from a variety of sources, including inmates and their 

families, advocacy organizations, defense counsel, and current or former laboratory employees. 

She also manages the Commission's review of laboratory self-disclosures for nonconformances 

that may rise to the level of negligence or misconduct. Laboratories are required to self-report 

these non-conformances under Texas law. Ms. Garcia has coordinated investigations and 

drafted reports in a variety of forensic disciplines including drug chemistry, forensic biology, 

toxicology, digital and multimedia evidence, firearm and tool mark analysis, and arson 

investigation. Ms. Garcia also coordinates the Commission's ongoing statewide reviews of hair 

microscopy and bite mark cases.

Ms. Garcia coordinates the training and forensic development initiatives of the Commission, 

including development of in-person and online training regarding ethics and integrity in the 

crime laboratory; the impact of Brady and the Michael Morton Act on forensic examiners; 

leadership issues in the crime laboratory; root cause analysis training and many other 

discipline-specific trainings as identified either during the course of investigations or through 

collaboration with the Texas Association of Crime Laboratory Directors.

Before joining the Commission, Ms. Garcia was an attorney in private practice in the areas of 

white collar criminal defense, export regulation, economic sanctions, anti-corruption and 

corporate internal investigations. Ms. Garcia lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and very 

active toddler named Samuel.
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Antonio Possolo

Fellow & Chief Statistician

NIST

Antonio Possolo (NIST Fellow, Chief Statistician for NIST) holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from Yale 

University.

Besides his current role in government, he has sixteen years of previous experience in industry 

(General Electric, Boeing), and nine years of academic experience (Princeton University, 

University of Washington in Seattle, University of Lisboa).

For more than 35 years now, he has been committed to the development and application of 

probabilistic and statistical methods that contribute to advances in science and technology, and 

for the most recent 10 years at NIST with a focus on measurement science and the evaluation 

of measurement uncertainty.

His engagement in measurement science includes being a member of the Commission on 

Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW, International Union of Pure and Applied 

Chemistry), Working Group 1 of the Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology, and chair of the 

Technical Working Group on ``Statistics and Uncertainty'' of the ``Sistema Interamericano de 

Metrologia'' (SIM).
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Dr. Scott A. Shappell, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor

Department of Human Factors and Systems at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Dr. Shappell is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Factors and 

Systems at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Before joining the faculty at ERAU in the fall 

of 2012, Dr. Shappell was professor of Industrial Engineering at Clemson University from 2005-

2012. Before that, he was the Human Factors Research Branch Manager at the Civil Aerospace 

Medical Institute. In addition, he has served nearly 20 years (11 years on active duty) in the 

U.S. Navy as an Aerospace Experimental Psychologist. During his time in the US Navy, Dr. 

Shappell served as the Human Factors Branch Chief at the U.S. Naval Safety Center and as a 

human factors accident investigation consultant for the Joint Service Safety Chiefs. He has 

published/presented well over 200 papers, books, and presentations in the fields of accident 

investigation, system safety, behavioral stressors, sustained operations and fatigue. While 

noted for his work in aviation, Dr. Shappell has been involved in a variety of industries including 

petrochemical industry, forensic science, mining, and medicine.

Dr. Shappell received a B.S. in psychology (1983) from Wright State University graduating 

Summa Cum Laude with honors in psychology and followed with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from 

the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1990. Dr. Shappell is a fellow of the Aerospace 

Medical Association, fellow and past-president of the Aerospace Human Factors Association; 

fellow of the American Psychological Association and past-president of Division 21 - Applied 

Experimental and Engineering Psychology, past-secretary/treasurer of the Human Factors and 

Ergonomics Society, and member of the Association of Aerospace Psychologists, member of the 

Institute of Industrial Engineers, and member of the Association of System Safety Engineers.
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Dr. Jenifer Smith

Director

The DC Department of Forensic Sciences

Dr. Jenifer Smith was appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser as Director of the Department of 

Forensic Sciences (DFS) in July 2015. Dr. Smith is a retired FBI Special Agent, having served for 

23 years, and was formerly a faculty member at Pennsylvania State University from 2010-

2015.

At the FBI Dr. Smith oversaw DNA analysis, implemented numerous analysis methods and 

testified in hundreds of cases. As a member of the federal Senior Executive Service, her final 

assignment with the FBI was Chief of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Intelligence Analysis 

Section. She also led the CIA's Biological Technology Center and has served on several federal 

advisory groups that support national security entities concerned with microbial forensics.

Dr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University, a 

Ph.D. in Physiological Chemistry from Ohio State University and she participated in Post 

Doctorate research at Harvard University.
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Dr. Peter Stout

CEO and President

HFSC

Dr. Peter Stout, HFSC's CEO and president, initially joined the agency in 2015 as its chief 

operating officer and vice president. He has more than 15 years of experience in forensic 

science and forensic toxicology. Prior to joining HFSC, Dr. Stout worked as a senior research 

forensic scientist and director of operations in the Center for Forensic Sciences at RTI 

International. Dr. Stout also has served as president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists 

(SOFT). He represented SOFT in the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations and has 

participated in national policy debates on the future of forensic sciences in the United States. 

Dr. Stout has a doctorate in toxicology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center 

in Denver. Dr. Stout also served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps.
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Anthony Tessarolo

Director

The Centre of Forensic Sciences

Tony Tessarolo has been the Director of the Centre of Forensic Sciences since January 2010. 

After graduating with an Honours B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Waterloo he 

joined the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS) in 1989, as a forensic biologist, initially conducting 

casework in trace evidence examination, followed by serology and DNA testing in the mid-90's. 

In 1998, he transferred to the Northern Regional Laboratory of CFS, in Sault Ste. Marie, to 

initiate the delivery of DNA testing services to investigative agencies in Northern Ontario. In 

2000, Tony became the Assistant Manager of the Northern Regional Lab, responsible for the 

management of Biology, Toxicology, Quality Assurance, and the Centre Receiving Office. In 

January 2004, he returned to Toronto as the Section Head, Firearms. In 2006, his role at CFS 

expanded to include the management of the Questioned Documents, Photoanalysis and 

Electronics Sections as well. In 2008, Tony was asked to lead the ministry's response to the 

implementation of recommendations arising from the Ontario Auditor General's 2007 report on 

CFS. Tony became the Quality Manager in July 2009 where he managed the CFS Quality System 

until January 2010, when he was selected as the new Director of the Centre of Forensic 

Sciences.

Tony is a Past-President of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, a member of the 

Executive of the Ontario Homicide Investigator's Association, a member of the American Society 

of Crime Lab Directors and a member of the Association of Forensic Quality Assurance 

Managers.
2017 International Forensic Science Error Management Symposium - Biographies

Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde

Director

National Institute of Forensic Science Australia New Zealand

Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde gained a BSc and a PGDipSc at La Trobe University and a PhD at the 

University of Canberra in species identification of Diprotodontia for wildlife crime 

investigations. Linzi has over 20 years' experience in forensic science working for Victoria 

Police, New South Wales Police and the Australian Federal Police. During this time Linzi has 

worked on the investigation of a number of high-profile murder cases, cold case reviews and 

the highly publicised mass DNA screen in the town of Wee Waa, NSW. Linzi also served on 

the Working Party on Law Enforcement and Evidence for the Australian Law Reform 

Commission Report into the Protection of Human Genetic Information, released in 2003 and 

coordinated the DNA analysis of all samples involved in the disaster victim identification and 

criminal investigation of the Bali Bombing in October 2002. Recently Linzi has been involved 

in the development of forensic specific Australian and international Standards and is the 

current Chair of ISO TC272. Linzi has received a Medal in the Order of Australia for her work 

and was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2014. Linzi is currently 

Director of the National Institute of Forensic Science Australia New Zealand.