Firearm Tool Mark Examination Expert Witness Dean Molnar

Dean S. Molnar, Jr. is a highly trained and exceptionally experienced Firearm and Tool Mark Examiner, Crime Scene and Firearms Trajectory Analyst, and a proven leader in the field of Forensic Science Operations and Quality Assurance. Mr. Molnar has over 25 years of experience as a certified law enforcement officer and State Trooper, and over 17 years of experience serving as a firearm and tool mark examiner, firearms and tool mark unit supervisor, and laboratory director with the Michigan State Police (MSP) Forensic Science Division.

Litigation Support - Mr. Molnar's experience as a forensic firearm and tool mark examiner includes recognized expert testimony in over 140 criminal cases in both state and federal courts involving both firearms and tool mark identification, crime scene investigation, and shooting reconstruction.  He has personally processed over 60 homicide scenes during his career, including scenes involving shooting reconstruction, photography, and documentation.

Areas of Expertise:

• Firearms function, operability, alterations, defects, conversions, modifications, accidental discharge
• Cartridge manufacture and source determination of ammunition components
• Shooting scene (trajectory) reconstruction
• External and/or terminal ballistics calculations and determinations of the projectile’s trajectory, ricochet, penetration, etc
• Distance determinations (muzzle-to-target determinations) from gunshot residue patterns or shot pellet patterns
• Serial number restorations (firearms, motorcycles and other vehicles, bicycles, etc.) – anything with an identifying characters, numbers or markings that have been obliterated either intentionally or by wear or corrosion

Background Experience - Mr. Molnar’s leadership experience has included firearms unit supervisor duties at three different laboratories. He currently serves in a key role as the Laboratory Director at the Michigan State Police-Lansing Laboratory where he is specifically assigned as the operations director for pattern disciplines.

Mr. Molnar also has over seven years of quality assurance experience as an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) assessor. His years of experience include almost 15 years of ongoing training within an extremely professional and accredited crime scene processing program at MSP, along with even more specialized training in firearms trajectory analysis. Mr. Molnar holds a Bachelor of Science in Fire Science and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Lake Superior State University. He is a long-time member of the Association of Firearms and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) and is also a member of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).