Originally posted by Herlock Sholmes
View Post
In April 1977, the select committee sought recommendations for membership for the panel from the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Exa. miners, the Forensic Science Foundation and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Candidates were to be leading firearms experts who had had no prior affiliation with either the King or the Kennedy assassination cases.
A list of 27 experts was proposed. Five were eliminated initially: three were current or past employees of the FBI; one had authored material on the firearms evidence; and one was unable to undertake the project. The remaining 22 prospects were asked to submit resumes, with information on past affiliations with the case and opinions about the assassination or the firearms evidence. Eighteen responded, 10 of whom did not want to be considered or did not meet the committee's criteria.
The following five experts were chosen to serve on the panel:
John S. Bates, Jr.--Senior firearms examiner in the New York State Police Laboratory at Albany. He has been a lecturer at the New York State Police Academy, New York State Municipal Police Training Council, and various community colleges. Bates is a member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners, serving as secretary since 1973. In that year, he received the association's Distinguished Member Award. He has written numerous professional articles.
Donald E. Champagne.--Firearm and tool mark examiner with the Florida Department of Criminal Law Enforcement in Tallahassee for the past 10 years. He served in the crime detection laboratory of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa, Ontario, for 15 years, and he has lectured extensively at the Canadian Police College and other law enforcement agencies. Champagne is president and a distinguished member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners. He is a member of the Southern Association of Forensic Scientists and the Canadian Society of Forensic Science.
Monty C. Lutz.--Firearm and tool mark analyst with the Wisconsin Regional Crime Laboratory in New Berlin. He has been the chief firearm and tool mark examiner for the U.S. Army. Lutz is a past president of the Association of Firearm and Tool Makers Examiners. He has been named a disthinguished member of the *The same panel members wore also to examine the firearms evidence in the King assassination case. association. He has lectured at colleges and law enforcement schools across the country and is the author of numerous professional publications. He received a B.S. in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska.
Andrew M. Newquist.--Special agent and firearm, tool mark and latent fingerprint examiner for the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Newquist is a distinguished member and past president of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners and currently serves on its executive committee. He is a member of the International Association for Identification and a lecturer at the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
The panel conducted its examination at the facilities of the Metropolitan Police Department firearm identification section, Washington, D.C Assigned as liaison to the panel and working closely with it as technical assistant was George R. Wilson, senior firearms examiner, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C., a position he has held for 9 years. The laboratory, which he established, was the first in the department's history. Wilson is second vice president of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners. In 1974, he received the association's Distinguished Member Award. During his 25-year tenure with the metropolitan Police Department, he has been awarded over 30 commendations for outstanding and meritorious performance of duty.
Comment