Firearms Expert Witnesses: 10

Michael J. Canaan, CPP CFLC, is a Premises Liability Expert Witness with over 45 years of experience in military and civil law enforcement, as well as corporate and private sector security and investigative positions.

Assignments have taken him from the Bering Sea to Southeast Alaska, across Canada and the United States, to countries in Central and South American in case venues ranging from educational settings, amphitheaters and stadiums, nightclubs and sports bars, ships, casinos, retail environments, food processing facilities, malls, and shopping centers.

Expert cases have involved evaluating failure to meet best practices, duty or standard of care in areas such as:

• Inadequate or negligent hiring, retention, training, supervision, staffing, and terminations
• Use of force or excessive force, threats, harassment, and intimidation
• Inadequate or non-non-existent policies and procedures, post orders
• Assaults, voyeurism, rape, sexual assault, robbery, shootings, stabbing, and homicide
• Security technology integration, improper or inadequate physical security infrastructure or systems installation
• Workplace violence

Mr. Canaan has worked over 35 expert cases, with testimony experience in both deposition and trial.

He is Board Certified in Security Management by the American Society for Industrial Security, International. ASIS is the largest professional security practitioner association with over 38,000 members worldwide, of which only 2200 have received this prestigious certification. Mr. Canaan is also a Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant with the Forensic Expert Witness Association.

View Michael Canaan'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.

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. Mr. 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.

Firearms Operability Examination

Microscopic Analysis of Ballistic Evidence

Shooting Incident Reconstruction

Laser Trajectory Analysis of Bullet Paths

Gunshot Residue Distance Determination

Operability and Microscopic Report Review and Evaluation

Trial Preparation and Presentation

Expert Witness Testimony

Witness Interviews and Witness Statement Evaluation

Daniel G. O'Kelly has over 40 years of experience as a range instructor, a builder, and collector ofFirearms and Ammunition. Mr. O'Kelly is currently Director at the International Firearm Specialist Academy (IFSA), a guild of award winning experts, former Federal Agents, Investigators, Police Officers, Attorneys, and Medical Doctors, in the firearm and forensics field.

Background Experience - An Armorer for fourteen firearm manufacturers, Mr. O'Kelly has toured and done research at numerous firearm and ammunition factories and firearm reference collections across the U.S., Europe, and Africa. He also served for years as a Compliance Manager for the world’s largest firearm retailer. He regularly presents seminars on firearm enforcement, ID & technology, and ammunition to law enforcement and the firearm industry. He has been a court-qualified expert witness since 1990 on firearms, ammunition, self-defense, use of force, ballistics, trade dress, etc… Mr. O'Kelly served for 11 years as a Police Officer and for 23 years as a Special Agent for the Bureau of ATF where he was Lead Instructor of Firearm Technology at the ATF National Academy, where he co-wrote the firearm lesson plans.

Litigation Support - Daniel O'Kelly has provided litigation support as an Expert Firearm Witness in federal court since 1990. He has testified in numerous trials for over 35 years and has been lauded as an "unshakable witness". A qualified Subject Matter Expert with exceptional knowledge in firearms and investigative protocol, he is recognized as a “go to” person regarding technical firearm issues.

Areas of Expertise:

View Daniel O'Kelly's Consulting Profile.

Ideal Innovations, Inc. (I³) is recognized as an industry leader for biometric examination services, including expert fingerprint identification, latent print identification comparisons, data base system administration, information technologies, Automated Biometric Information System support and biometric data enrollment services.

Litigation Support - I³ strives to provide unbiased support for any request for comparison of facial images. They offer subject matter expertise in the area of consultation services for Facial Comparisons. Their Subject Matter Experts are key members of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Sciences, the Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG), and the International Association for Identification (IAI) Facial Identification Subcommittee.

 I³ has supported requests for attorneys (both prosecution and defense), historical photograph examinations, and missing children. They also offer expert witness testimony services regarding comparisons conducted by I³ personnel.

Areas of Expertise:

Lora S. Sims, CTPE currently serves as the Director of the Facial Identification Training and a Biometrics SME. In this position, Ms. Sims coordinates all training classes as well as many other Face related activities within the company and also provides subject matter expertise on Biometrics for contracts and consulting/expert witness work. 

Ms. Sims is an IAI Certified Tenprint Examiner and is the current chair of both the Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG) and the Facial Identification Subcommittee of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Sciences. She also sits on the IAI Facial Identification Subcommittee.

Ms. Sims joined Ideal Innovations, Inc. in 2008 as a Tenprint Examiner at the DoD DFBA, which transitioned into a Sr. Biometric Examiner comparing multiple biometrics (fingerprints, faces, and irises). In this position, she co-authored a training to competency program on facial identification & comparisons and is responsible for mentoring and training new employees through the tenprint and facial training program while integrating them into an operational environment

Steven Lee Johnson joined the I³ Advisory Board after 13 years of service to the company as Senior Vice President. Mr. Johnson is the current Chair of the Forensics Science Standards Board (FSSB) of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) entity dedicated to strengthening the nation’s use of forensic science by facilitating the development of technically sound forensic science standards and by promoting the adoption of those standards by the forensic science community. 

Mr. Johnson served in the past as President and Chair of the IAI, secretary and chair of the IAI Forensic Art Certification Board, past chair of the IAI Science and Practices Committee, chair of the IAI Biometric Information Systems Committee and the chair of the IAI Facial Identification provisional sub-committee. In addition to his affiliation with the IAI, Mr. Johnson is an Associate Member of the International Association of Cranio-Facial Identifiers.

Mr. Johnson worked numerous forensic/biometric support contracts for the Department of Defense (DoD) and was actively involved in the development of DoD forensics and biometric standards. He is an International Association for Identification (IAI) Certified Latent Print Examiner (CLPE) and Forensic Artist. Prior to coming to I3, Steve served 20 years in the law enforcement community providing leadership and expertise in criminal investigation and forensic sciences at the municipal and state levels.

View Ideal Innovations, Inc.'s Consulting Profile.

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.

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

Richard Ernest is an award winning Forensic Scientist and Consultant who has over 31 years of Experience in Analytical Criminalistics and Forensic Ballistics. During his career he has worked literally thousands of forensic cases, and testified hundreds of times. Mr. Ernest is one of a very few private forensic ballistics consultants in the United States. He also owns and operates his own independent forensic firearms laboratory. He has worked cases all across the United States. His clients include law enforcement agencies, district attorney's offices, civil and criminal case lawyers, private individuals, journalists, writers, educators and students. 

Mr. Ernest has performed work on such notable cases as the Atlanta Murdered and Missing Children (Georgia vs. Wayne Williams), the Branch Davidian cases from Waco, the Texas Cadets Murder (Texas vs. David Graham and Dianne Zamora), the Miami SWAT case (USA vs. Acuna, et. al. - the Richard Brown case), and the Jayson Williams case (NJ vs. Jayson Williams). 

Areas of Expertise:

• Firearm Examination and Testing
• Bullet and Cartridge Case Examinations and Comparisons
• Ammunition Evaluation and Testing
• Shooting Scene Reconstructions
• Shooting Accident Reconstructions
• Shooting Scene Re-enactments
• Distance Determinations from Gunshot Wounds and Clothing
• Gunshot Residue Analysis (GSR) and GSR Consultation
• Tool Mark Examinations and Comparisons
• Gun Safety and Design Issues
• Serial Number Restorations
• Crime Scene Examinations and Consultations
• Footwear Identification
• Tire Track Identification

Chief Chet Epperson (Ret.), MBA, has over 38 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.