This module provides detailed and thorough instruction in the scientific foundations underlying common source determinations made by firearm and toolmark examiners. The lectures will discuss the AFTE Theory of Identification and Range of Conclusions, the basic premises of firearm and toolmark examinations to include a scientific overview and validation, studies demonstrating that different tools create different toolmarks, error rate studies, and issues dealing with contextual and confirmation bias in firearm and toolmark identification. By the conclusion of this module, the student will not only have a thorough and complete understanding of the scientific foundations of the discipline but also how to articulate those in a manner that lay jurors would be able to understand.
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Ron Nichols

Ron is widely published with many publications routinely referenced in published court decisions with respect to Daubert and Frye evidentiary hearings. He is the author of Firearm and Toolmark Identification: The Scientific Reliability of the Forensic Science Discipline available through Academic Press and Building a Preventive Crime Gun Strategy available through Ultra Electronics Forensic Technology. He is a contributing author to other texts as well. He is internationally recognized as one of the leading experts in communicating the scientific foundations of the firearm and tool mark discipline to both technical and lay audiences providing training and consultation nationally and internationally, including on behalf of the United Nations.