Written by: Tara Luther, Promega

Testimony is a professional competency. Like every other professional competency, it develops through preparation, feedback, and deliberate practice. The Expert Witness Testimony module examines what that development looks like across eight video segments, drawing on perspectives from prosecutors, laboratory leaders, forensic science educators, and attorneys who have spent careers working with and within the forensic testimony process.

Craig O'Connor, Director of the Department of Forensic Biology at OCME (the largest forensic biology laboratory in the country), describes the analyst's role plainly: to present evidence objectively and educate the jury in language accessible to someone without a scientific background. The task sounds straightforward. The execution is harder.

Susan Horan, DNA Specialist at the Kings County District Attorney's Office and a former OCME criminalist, addresses a structural challenge most analysts recognize: the vast majority of cases never go to trial, and those that do frequently arrive after months of continuances and competing lab demands. Deliberate preparation is harder to prioritize under those conditions. It also matters more.

The module moves through cross-examination: what defense attorneys are actually trying to accomplish, how analysts can hold their position without conceding ground they do not need to concede, and how to remain grounded in the science under adversarial questioning. A segment on communicating complex science to lay audiences examines how to translate technical DNA concepts into accessible language without sacrificing accuracy.

The Forensic Leadership Alliance closes the module with a session on building testimony readiness as a laboratory-wide practice: structured exercises, peer feedback, mentorship, and a culture where preparation is an ongoing professional responsibility rather than a pretrial procedure.

Eight segments, 3 hours and 35 minutes. Available for $75.

Most forensic labs encounter FIGG through its investigative potential: a cold case that might yield a lead, a grant that makes the technology fundable, an investigator asking whether a decades-old profile could be worked again. The question that determines whether that work holds up is different. What authorization, triage criteria, documentation, and communication practices need to be in place before the first case is submitted?

The FIGG module addresses both, working through the second in depth.

The module opens with two segments built around the Bronx District Attorney’s cold case initiative, funded through a Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance grant. The cases involved decades-old John Doe profiles, many preserved through early indictments designed to toll statutes of limitation. Nana Lamousé-Welch, DNA Specialist at the Bronx DA’s office, traces how those cases were triaged for FIGG, how vendors were selected within an evolving landscape, how discovery and disclosure were managed, and how STR confirmation was structured as the evidentiary anchor. One case resulted in the first FIGG-based indictment in a New York sexual assault case.

Three cold homicide cases with distinct evidentiary challenges illustrate how labs approach the technology selection decision. DNA quantity, degradation, contamination history, and prior testing results all shape whether targeted sequencing, SNP array, or whole genome sequencing is the appropriate next step. The module examines those decisions in detail, including the considerations involved in working with outside vendors and managing realistic expectations around timelines and cost.

A separate case takes a different scale. A decades-long investigation into the disappearance of Ernst Moltzer, a Dutch resistance member who vanished attempting to cross the North Sea during World War II, ultimately required genealogical research, forensic anthropology, DNA analysis, Dutch police, an investigative journalist, and law enforcement coordination across multiple countries. The identification integrated autosomal STRs, Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA, dental findings, and archival records accumulated over many years. The case is distinct from U.S. criminal casework. The lesson it carries is not.

The final segments address case authorization, prioritization criteria, documentation, and the policy and governance considerations that shape how a FIGG program holds up over time.

Eight segments, 2 hours and 24 minutes. Available for $75.

ISHI On-Demand modules are intended for a broad professional and educational audience, including:

• Forensic DNA analysts and technical staff
• Laboratory supervisors, managers, and directors
• Forensic science students and trainees
• Law enforcement professionals working with DNA evidence
• Legal professionals seeking to better understand forensic DNA interpretation and communication

For some viewers, the material may serve as an introduction or refresher. For others—particularly those already working with these methods—it may provide additional context, perspective, or insight into how peers approach shared challenges.

ISHI On-Demand is not intended to replace laboratory-specific training, validation, or policy development. It's the context, peer insight, and honest perspective that helps you use those tools more effectively.