Arms - Guns - Weapons Expert Witnesses: 16

Chief Chet Epperson (Ret.), MBA, has over 40 years of experience as a Law Enforcement / Police Professional for the Rockford Police Department in Rockford, Illinois. Chief Epperson spent 33 years as an active law enforcement officer and 10 of those years as Chief of Police. 

Chief Epperson maintains practical experience as a municipal police chief, implementing several police reforms in his police agency along with accountability processes. He was instrumental in reforming the Rockford Police Department by enhancing its relationship with the community and providing internal and external transparency. Chief Epperson assisted in the formulation of a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate officer-involved police shootings, in-custody police deaths, and serious uses of force.

Litigation Support - Since 2016, Chief Epperson has been serving as a Police Practices consultant, providing court-appointed expertise in police agency Federal District Court Consent Decrees. He is an expert in applying Constitutional Standards, State Law, policy, and practice to police incidents. Having Instructed courses on police use of force, internal affairs, and discipline, Chief Epperson is qualified to opine on cases of this nature for both plaintiffs and defendants. His police and jail litigation services include thorough reporting, deposition, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

View AGR Police Practice Group's Consulting Profile.

Steven Howard provides a wide range of Consulting and Expert Witness Services to the legal professional in an ample variety of Firearms, Ammunition, Knives, Blades, Explosive Devices and many other related subjects. His Primary Area of Experience is Gunsmithing and Certified Police Armorer. Mr. Howard has a college degree in Gunsmithing and is a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan. He is a former Federal Agent with the U.S. Border Patrol and a former Federal Police Officer with the Department of Defense. He has 50 years of Gunsmithing experience and is a Certified Police Armorer.

Services Include:

• All Standard Firearms
• Firearms & Ammunition Failures
• Accidental Discharges
• Almost all Machine Guns
• Silencers
• Testing
• Shooting Scene Reconstruction
• Crime Scene Reconstruction
• Knives
• Explosive Devices
• Assistance in Trial Preparation
• Firearms Identification
• Gunshot Residue Interpretation & Cross Contamination

Francis T. "Jay" Jarvis has over 35 years of experience as a Forensic Scientist, specializing in Forensic Ballistics and Firearms Analysis.

During his career, Mr. Jarvis either performed casework in or was a supervisor for most of the forensic disciplines. Between 1982 and 1997, he wore a multitude of hats, performing casework in:

Following his retirement from the Georgia State Crime Lab, Jay Jarvis started Arma Forensics to provide personalized, timely and unbiased forensic services for clients. He has testified as an expert in Federal Court and the courts of Georgia and several other states over 750 times. Mr. Jarvis' specialty is firearms identification and ballistics but he also has casework experience in trace evidence. Mr. Jarvis has extensive experience in crime laboratory accreditation, having served as an accreditation assessor and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB), including one year as the Board Chair.

View Jay Jarvis' Consulting Profile.

Capt. David G. Bacon, is a Maritime Expert with over 30 years of vessel charter experience. He has a United States Coast Guard Captains License (Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel - unlimited tonnage). Capt. Bacon's vessel charters include fishing, research, cruising, eco-tours, whale watching, diving, kayaking, photography, oil seeps, and oil spills. As owner/operator, and captain of WaveWalker Charters, he has decades of vessel operations experience with zero accidents and zero injuries. Capt. Bacon is experienced with crew training, safety procedures, crew drills, and practice. The Founder and Executive Director of a nonprofit organization providing at-sea educational adventures for special-needs children and adults, he has extensive knowledge of passenger safety orientation and creating/maintaining a safe environment for passengers, including special-needs passengers in for-profit and nonprofit (501c3) ventures.

Introduction by Captain David G. Bacon

Litigation Support - Capt. Bacon offers expert witness services to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defendant and has successfully performed in depositions and testimony.  His cases include:

Capt. Bacon has spent 30+ years participating as a technical writer for marine electronics and electrical journals, work procedures, user manuals, magazine articles, on-line publications, and social media. He is a public speaker with 15 years of experience hosting seminars, informational/motivational lectures, and presentations for civic organizations and clubs.

View Capt. Bacon's Consulting Profile.

Michael Corbett, CFE, CEDS, CAMS, PI, is an Investigations and Compliance Professional with 35 years of leadership in the conduct, management, and oversight of complex investigations. After more than thirty years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Mr. Corbett offers extensive experience in all phases of investigations to include development of investigative leads; witness identification and interviews; development and management of informants; evidence collection and analysis; operational planning, trial preparation and testimony. He has extensive experience in leading multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional investigations as well as policies, procedures and programs impacting operations.

Mr. Corbett has proven expertise in sensitive international operations requiring close coordination with foreign government officials and agencies and is experienced in working within the diplomatic and consular communities as well as with private sector interests abroad. Experienced in the detection, investigation and mitigation of official corruption.

Areas of Expertise:

Education, Certifications, and Licenses:
Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice Administration, University of Central Missouri
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS)
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)
Licensed Private Investigator, Owner/Manager of a licensed Texas Investigations Company (State License A04186901)

Dr. Ron Martinelli, PhD, CMI-V, is a nationally renowned Forensic Criminologist and a federal/state courts qualified law enforcement and premises liability expert who is also a Certified Medical Investigator (physician's level). He is also a Certified Suicide Investigator. 

Dr. Martinelli directs the nation's only Forensic Death Investigations & Independent Review Team of 26 law enforcement, forensic and medical experts and specializes in officer-involved death cases, civilian self-defense shooting cases and premises liability/security cases. He is a forensic/law enforcement expert to the U.S. Department of Justice, several State Attorney Generals' Offices, numerous major municipalities and nationally prominent private law firms specializing in wrongful death, civil rights and premises liability. 

Dr. Martinelli is the prevailing expert in over 90% of his retained cases. He has saved defendants over $300M and earned plaintiffs over $160 million in jury verdicts and settlements since 2004. He is the media's go-to forensic expert for FOX News, One America News Network, CNN, HLN, Sky News, BBC, NPR, and the History & Discovery Channels. Dr. Martinelli is skilled in crime scene reconstruction, forensics, applied sciences, human factors, psycho-medical emergencies and premises liability and security cases. His unique and extensive field experience, combined his academic and scientific credentials, excellent written reports and persuasive testimony, make him a very appealing expert to attorneys and juries alike.

Areas of Expertise:

• Arrests
• Search & Seizure
• Use of Force / Excessive Force - All Levels and Weaponry
• Officer Involved Shootings(OIS)
• In-Custody Deaths
• Criminal Investigations
• Law Enforcement & Corrections Practices, Training & Supervision
• Adult & Juvenile Corrections
• Law Enforcement Negligence
• Civilian Self-Defense, Premises Liability, Security, Foreseeable Harm
• Insurance Cases
• COVID Detentions & Arrests

David T. Sweeney is a Police Policy and Procedure expert and a 34-year veteran police leader with Oregon State University PD and Seattle PD.  He has decades of experience supervising a large number of sergeants and officers. assisting with expert reviews of policing best practices for pursuits, use of force, security, and a variety of legal standards for police.

Litigation Support - Mr. Sweeney's goal is to improve best practices in policing by offering expert witness and police consultation services. A trained mediator specializing in workplace conflicts, he provides honest, unbiased opinions. Mr. Sweeney has spent 20 years as a sergeant and lieutenant, responsible for training and reviewing topics such as police pursuits, use of force, de-escalation, police supervision, less lethal weapons, active shooter, SWAT, crowd control, legal standards and more.

 Areas of Expertise:

View David T. Sweeney's Consulting Profile.

Evidence Solutions, Inc. (ESI) is a premier forensics company established in 1982 to help clients obtain, understand, and utilize all the data and information available to them.  We can analyze cell phones, computers, hard drives, EDRs, reconstruct accidents, provide trucking standard of care consulting, recover digital data, and provide expert witness testimony in our many areas of expertise. Our experts can help you understand what needs to be done, what should have been done, and what to do next.  Call us today so we can help you!

Litigation Support - Evidence Solutions' team of Expert Witnesses has a combined expertise of nearly 3 centuries. Our experts provide expert witness services in Digital Forensics, Law Enforcement, Cyber Security, Accident Reconstruction, Commercial Trucking, Transportation Safety, Real Estate, Greek Fraternity, and Aviation.

Areas of Expertise:

Featured ESI Experts:

James Lewis has been working as an Expert Witness in the trucking & transportation industry for over 20 years. He obtained his Class A commercial driver’s license in 1987 and boasts more than two million no-fault accident-free miles to show for his efforts.  He has served as a transportation terminal manager, safety director, truck driver trainer, and owner/operator. 

James’ extensive background in transportation has seen him qualified as an expert witness in federal, state, and local courts. In addition to being the primary expert in several Federal-level class action suits, he has produced more than 12,000 written opinions, has testified in trials, mediations, and arbitrations over 800 times, and has been deposed 167 times.

Expertise: DOT/FMCSA-governed trucking/transportation, Commercial Vehicles (CMVs), Towing and Recovery Operations and Policies, General Transportation Operations, Safety Policies and Procedures, Hours of Service Issues, Drug & Alcohol Reasonable Suspicion, Smith System Training, Driver Training, Truck Driver Responsibilities, OSHA, HAZMAT, Electronic Logs / Electronic Logging.

Doug Gipson is an Accident Reconstructionist with over 14 years spent investigating, analyzing, and reconstructing vehicle collisions. As a former Law Enforcement Officer, he responded to thousands of crashes over the course of his career. This experience provides him with firsthand knowledge of what the aftermath of vehicle collisions looks like, and the evidence left behind following a collision.

Doug used the knowledge and experience gained over his career to assist in successful prosecutions of offenders in multiple levels of the court system. His expertise has allowed him to provide expert testimony and expert opinions in civil and criminal cases.

Expertise: Accident Reconstruction, Pedestrian and Bicycle Collision Investigation, Motorcycle Collision Investigation,  Commercial/Heavy Vehicle Collision Reconstruction, Railway Crossing Collisions, Vehicle Examination, Accident Site Measurement, Speed Computations, Forensic Mapping, Scale Diagramming,  and CDR / Black Box Downloads.

Doug Gipson Crash Scene Expert Witness Introduction Video

Tommy Tunson - Law Enforcement Standard of Care Expert Witness

Chief Tunson has 32 years in law enforcement including more than 10 years of experience as a police chief and has worked in every aspect of policing. Lt. Colonel Tunson is a retired Army officer with more than 33 years of military service. Professor Tommy W. Tunson has been a Criminal Justice instructor for the University of Phoenix, California Southern University, and Bakersfield College. He is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Bakersfield College and an Executive Consultant on Organizational Leadership, Bridging the Racial Divide and enhancing Police-Community Strategic Partnerships. Dr. Tunson holds a Doctor of Business Administration, Juris Doctor, Master's Public Administration, and Bachelor of Science degrees.

Expertise: Community Policing, Preventing Violence through Community Policing, Law Enforcement Policy and Procedure, Use of Force,  Police Training, Increasing Department Productivity,  Enhancing Community Trust, Criminal Justice and Public Safety Consulting, and  Evidence based analysis and Testimony. 

View Evidence Solutions, Inc,'s Consulting Profile.

Brian L. Landers has nineteen years in Law Enforcement as well as over 25 years in law enforcement training and education, including experience as a police and jail academy director and a full-time criminal justice professor.

Experience: As a law enforcement officer, Mr. Landers started his career in patrol and K-9 and was promoted to supervision as a sergeant and eventually as a lieutenant in charge of the agency's training and hiring procedures. 

Mr. Landers has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement training, including 12 years of criminal justice training. He served 3 term as Mayor of the City of Wisconsin Dells and 3 terms as County Board of Supervisors (Columbia Co.WI). He has participated on the Wisconsin DOJ Tactical Advisory Committee and Wisconsin DOJ Ethics Advisory Committee. He was a Wisconsin Criminal Justice Coordinators President and also served on the Wisconsin Legislature 911Committee.

Mr. Landers frequently serves as a media consultant on police and criminal justice issues for ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox News affiliates.

Litigation Support - Mr. Landers' expert consulting and testimony is primarily focused on federal civil rights cases. His clients include both plaintiffs and defendants and he has been counted on to serve as an expert in high-profile cases. His services include thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Certification:

View Brian L. Landers' Consulting Profile.

Michael Levine is one of the most decorated Supervisory Agents in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration. A US Law Enforcement Procedure Expert, Mr. Levine has many decades of courtroom experience (civil & criminal) as a Trial consultant and Expert Witness, including 25 years of service with DEA, Customs, BATF, and the IRS Criminal Investigations Division. Mr. Levine's supervisory and other law enforcement experience includes being in command of task force units combining officers of FBI, BATF, IRS, Customs, NYPD and other police agencies, service as an Internal Affairs supervisory investigator, a senior inspector with the Department of Justice OPR, Office of Professional Responsibility, and Director of a sheriffs department drug bureau. 

Mr. Levine, during his decades of trial experience, both as a senior law enforcement officer including the past 30 years as a professional trial consultant, has qualified as an expert witness for both prosecution and plaintiff as well defense, in federal and state courts including 19 states, Puerto Rico and 8 foreign nations. He offers full trial consulting and investigative services in both criminal and civil matters as follows: Expert Witness File Review and Strategy Assessment; Case Particular Design of Cross-Examination "menus"; Investigative, Technical and Research Support; Expert Witness Report and/or Affidavit Preparation. Utilizing his extensive experience as a Supervisory Internal Affairs Investigator, he can also identify the elements of probable cause indicative of false reporting, cover-up, and the concealment of Brady materials. Since the year 2007 he has been retained by the Atlanta and DeKalb County District Attorneys Offices, to conduct police-involved shooting reviews and as such has testified before criminal grand juries leading to the indictment and conviction of law enforcement/violators. 

Mr. Levine specializes in full trial consulting services and expert testimony in criminal and civil matters and has testified as an expert in the following areas of expertise:

A listing of his cases may be found on his website www.policetrialexpert.com.

Michael Levine is the only US law enforcement expert ever admitted to testify before a Japanese court, (Japan v Goldstein) and used the Blind Mule Defense, which resulted in an acquittal. He is a best-selling author, media consultant, lecturer and police instructor with extensive experience as court-qualified expert witness and trial consultant in civil and criminal matters.

Since leaving the Department of Justice, he has been retained in excess of 500 occasions as a trial consultant/expert witness throughout the United States, Canada, England and Japan. Mr. Levine has also remained active as a police instructor in the US, Canada and Australia. In January of 2008, his police instructional manual "Undercover Tactics and Informant Handling" previously written for the Department of Justice, was published by the New York State Department of Justice Services and utilized as an instructional manual for New York State law-enforcement. The manual was subsequently edited and republished by the US State Department for the instruction of Brazilian Federal Police which was conducted by Mr. Levine and his team of US-based experts. The manual was subsequently republished via academia.edu from where it is now among the top .05% of Global downloads by police agencies, attorneys and researchers.

 View Michael Levine's Consulting Profile.

Reginald J. Montgomery, CLI, CPP, CFE, CST, CFC, CP, is an industry-leading, Certified Investigator and Security Expert with over 43 years of experience. He is directly responsible for the recovery of over 20 billion dollars (US$20B) worth of embezzled funds and stolen or misappropriated assets for corporate accounts.

Mr. Montgomery is a Certified Legal Investigator (CLI), a Certified Security Trainer (CST), a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), a Physical Security Professional (PSP), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), a Certified International Investigator (CII), a Board Accredited Investigator (BAI), a Certified Polygraphist (CP), and a Personal Protection Specialist (PPS).

Background Experience - Mr. Montgomery is a distinguished and decorated Law Enforcement Officer in New Jersey until 1979 when he started his own Detective Agency. He has served as a Investigative Consultant, Investigative Project Manager, and/or Field Investigator, Polygraph Examiner/interviewer, Criminal defense investigator (sexual assault) Security and Fraud Expert, and Professional Guardian (elder abuse and exploitation).

He clients are fortune 500 companies, including A&P, Amstar, Banana Republic, Becton Dickinson, Borden, Congoleum, Food town, Hess Oil, Hewlett Packard, Hoffman LaRoche, ITT, Johnson & Johnson, Kate Spade, Liz Claiborne, Merck, Mobil Oil, SC Johnson Wax and many more.

Mr. Montgomery was President of the New Jersey Licensed Private Investigators Association between 1996-2000, has served as the Assistant National Director, Regional Director, National Secretary and Vendor Committee Chair for The National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI) and has served as the Placement and Program Committee Chair, Certification Committee Chair and was the Chapter Chairman (2000-2001) for The American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), Northern New Jersey Chapter.  He also served as Vice-Chairman to the ASIS International Investigations Council.

Litigation Support - Mr. Montgomery has served as an expert witness in virtually every area of Security Litigation. Numerous judicial determinations awarding financial reparations to clients and shielding them from fraudulent and frivolous lawsuits were made due to his  expert testimony. Mr. Montgomery has successfully conducted investigations for Corporate, Legal, and Private concerns of national and international notability. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Reginald J. Montgomery's Consulting Profile.

Arthur S. Chancellor is a Law Enforcement Expert with over 40 years of experience, including 30+ years as a Special Agent, supervisor, and Commander with the US Army Criminal Investigation Division. He is currently serving as an Instructor and Consultant at Second Look Training and Forensic Consulting, LLC.

Litigation Support - Mr. Chancellor has personally investigated or supervised several thousand felony investigations which occurred on a military base or in the civilian community. He has processed over 200 homicide death scenes and qualified multiple times as an expert witness in the area of Crime Scene Analysis and Crime Scene Examination. His mission is to provide an accurate evaluation of criminal investigations and crime scenes for prosecutors or defense to enable them to make informed decisions about their case. 

Mr. Chancellor's focus in the last 15 years is on death and sexual offenses. His specialty is Staged Crime Scenes also known as Staging which is a crime scene alteration made by an offender to misdirect a criminal investigation. His most recent consultations have centered on homicides staged to resemble some other event or in false sexual assaults.

Areas of Expertise:

Professional Organizations: 

• American Academy Forensic Science (AAFS) Fellow status
• Member International Homicide Investigators Association (IHIA)
• International Association for Identification (IAI)
• North Carolina Homicide Investigator Association (NCHIA)

 View Second Look Training and Forensic Consulting Profile.

Dr. Roy G. Taylor is a current Chief of Police with over 40 years of experience in a wide-range of federal, state, local, and private criminal justice positions. Dr. Taylor specializes as an expert witness in Police Practices and Procedures and Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. Current Positions:

• Chief of Police Blue Ridge Public Safety (2014)
• President/CEO Signal 88 Security of Charlotte (2012)
• President/CEO Capitol Special Patrol (2012)
• Chief of Police Capitol Special Police (2002)
• Lt. Colonel – Provost Marshal, Army National Guard (2000)
• Antiterrorism / Emergency Management Branch Chief DoD (2007)
• Provost Marshal Joint Civil Support Task Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff (2014)

Litigation Support - Dr. Taylor is called upon to analyze cases from both defense and plaintiff perspectives. His services include case review, written reports, deposition, and trial testimony as needed. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Roy Taylor's Consulting Profile.

Emanuel Kapelsohn is an internationally recognized Firearms Training and Use of Force consultant who has instructed thousands of police and security officers, federal agents and others throughout the U.S. and abroad since 1980. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, he is a practicing attorney in addition to his consulting work. 

As vice president of the Internat’l Assoc. of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, Mr. Kapelsohn is a certified in force science and shooting scene reconstruction, and as an instructor in numerous law enforcement disciplines. He is a featured presenter at national and international instructor conferences. He has authored over 130 published articles, is Associate Editor of "Standards & Practices Guide for Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors," and principal author of "Firearms Training Standards for Law Enforcement Personnel," and "Guidelines for Simulation Training Safety." 

Mr. Kapelsohn testifies as an expert witness in civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts nationwide, and has testified by invitation before both houses of Congress. 

Testimony on the Following Subjects:

View Emanuel Kapelsohn's Consulting Profile.

Adam Bercovici has over 40 years of experience in the Police and Security field. Mr. Bercovici spent 30 of those years with the LAPD, 20 as a supervisor and manager. He is currently a retired LAPD lieutenant and former security company CEO.

Background: Mr. Bercovici's leadership assignments included the Criminal Investigation Section- Major Crimes Division-The Joint Terrorism Task Force, The FBI Violent Crime Task Force ( where he supervised the FBI Fugitive Task Force), The Special Investigation Section, and Homicide Special Section. 

Since 2012, Mr. Bercovici has worked as a licensed private investigator and subject matter expert, and consultant in the areas of Police Practices and Complex Police Investigations. His clients have included major law firms, insurance companies, and corporations.  Mr. Bercovici is currently retained on several high-profile cases.  He is an experienced Expert Witness who has written numerous Rule 26 Reports and has testified in both State and Federal courts.  Writing examples can be provided.  Mr. Bercovici has been an on-air talent, producer, and script and story consultant in the entertainment industry.  He was the Co-Talent on The History Channel Series JFK Declassified-Tracking Oswald.  Mr. Bercovici was the Executive Producer for American Cartel for Discovery Plus. 

Litigation Support: Adam Bercovici splits his work between defense and plaintiff. He has been retained by major civil rights firms, major municipalities and their legal counsel, plaintiff attorneys, city attorneys, and criminal defense attorneys. Mr. Bercovici accepts work based on the merits of the individual case.

Areas of Expertise: