Explore Phil Spector murder trial evidence with experts and LAVA

LAVA invites you to explore Phil Spector murder trial evidence with LA's top forensic scientist

WHAT: Professor Donald Johnson, in association with LAVA and Esotouric, presents LASD Senior Criminalist Lynne Herold in a lecture and crime lab demonstration "TRACE: inside the world of Lynne Herold, Criminalist."

WHEN: Sunday, April 17, 2:00pm-6:00pm

WHERE: The Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center (Cal State L.A.), 1800 Paseo Rancho Castilla, Los Angeles, CA 90032

COST: $36.50 per person, includes refreshments

RESTRICTIONS: Due to the graphic nature of the presentation, children may not attend. No photography or videotaping of any kind will be permitted, and cell phones must be stowed away.

PHOTOS: To see images from a past LAVA crime lab event, visit
http://lavatransforms.org/crimelabpics

VIDEO: For a video tour of the teaching crime lab with participating graduate students, see this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvHMITS3MjU

INFO/RESERVATIONS:
http://lavatransforms.org/crimelabapril17

Turn on the TV in 2010 and odds are good you'll see white lab coats, DNA swabs and magnified fingerprints on computer screens. CSI is hot stuff, in fictional series ("NCIS: Los Angeles," "Bones," "Dexter," "CSI") and documentary programming. But it's not often that the general public gets a chance to tour a real crime lab with the forensic investigators and educators who use its tools to solve crimes and develop new research strategies.

Leave it to LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association), the creative consortium launched one year ago by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper, the married couple whose Esotouric bus adventures have transformed the guided tour experience, to make a real-life CSI experience accessible to interested laypersons. Working closely with one of LAVA's most intriguing Visionary members, Professor Donald Johnson, they've developed a special four-hour program highlighting the career and insights of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Senior Criminalist Lynne Herold, best known for her work on the trace evidence in the first Phil Spector murder trial.

The event, held in Cal State L.A.'s state-of-the-art Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, also includes short technical presentations from the graduate students who work and study there and a tour of the teaching crime lab and crime scene reconstruction lab.

Just added to the program-- a raffle for an opportunity to suit up in a hazmat suit and create sample blood spatter evidence the way the pros do, by beating a blood-soaked sponge with a baseball bat! There will be other interesting raffle prizes, and a forensic science-themed bake sale.

Space is very limited and pre-reservation recommended for this unprecedented opportunity to spend an afternoon drinking in Lynne Herold's more than twenty years of crime scene analysis and investigation. A portion of the proceeds from this event supports the research of Criminalistics graduate students at Cal State Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE EVENT:
"TRACE: inside the world of Lynne Herold, Criminalist" is an exploration of the scientific investigation of major crimes, revealed through methods of trace evidence analysis and select case histories. Attendees will also have an opportunity to tour Cal State LA's state-of the-art teaching and research facilities in the Criminalistics Department of the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center.

"TRACE" consists of three lectures by Lynne Herold and three breakout scientific workshops presented by Criminalistics graduate students.

Lecture #1 is Lynne Herold's personal introduction to her life and work, entitled "My World and Welcome To It."

Lecture #2 explores the use of bloodstain patterns in the analysis of complex crime scenes.

Lecture #3 is a case history of the Phil Spector /Lana Clarkson murder investigation, for which Lynne Herold did the trace evidence analyses which resulted in Spector's conviction in his second murder trial. The scientific workshop topics include blood spatter re-creation and analysis, the magic of Mylar and static electricity, and insights into hair/fiber analysis.

By the program's conclusion, attendees will have a deeper understanding of the real work that's done by a senior LASD criminalist, and the tools and techniques used to interpret crime scenes for the benefit of investigating officers and juries. Come discover the reality, which is so different from and so much more interesting than what you've seen on TV.

Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at
http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit
http://www.lavatransforms.org