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AFDAA
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY
9 & 10, 2003
DAY
1
Registration
began at 8:00am Thursday January 9, 2003 with all attendees signing
in and paying meeting registration fees, AFDAA application fees, or
Membership dues depending on the membership status of the attendee.
Chairman
Ron Rubocki called the meeting to order at approximately 8:55 am
with opening remarks welcoming everyone and reviewing the agenda for
the meeting.
Stephen
Gammon from the University of North Texas Health Science Center gave
a quick update on the Missing Persons Database. The database should
be online soon. UNT is in the process of developing a collection kit
for reference samples from relatives of missing persons. A training
video on how to collect these samples is also in progress. The video
will be available to law enforcement agencies and will be on CD/DVD
format. John Planz also asked for AFDAA members to let him know what
types and amounts of evidence we have received in the past in missing
person cases so that UNT can get an idea of what to expect when they
open their doors. Cases involving child abductions will receive the
highest priority. There will be no fee for their services for DNA
typing and entering missing persons and family reference samples into
CODIS for law enforcement agencies within the state of Texas. There
is hope that the service will be offered to other agencies outside
the state of Texas, in the near future, for a reduced fee, with AFDAA
members receiving a discount. For information or to contact the
Missing Persons Database, please call 817-735-0188, fax 817-735-2424,
or e-mail sgammon@hsc.unt.edu.
The
first presenter for the meeting was George Schiro from the Acadiana
Crime Lab. He gave two presentations. His first presentation was
entitled "Crime Scene Investigation Basics". The second
presentation was entitled "Extraction of Human DNA from Fly
Larvae Found on Decomposing Tissue".
Promega
sponsored the morning break.
The
third presentation of the day was given by Melba Ketchum from DNA
Diagnostics entitled "Crime and Animal Genetics: An Emerging
Science". Her presentation focused on case studies, ethical
considerations, selective breeding, and parent verification. She gave
examples of how animal genetics are becoming more common in forensic cases.
After
lunch, Melba Ketchum continued her presentation.
The
last presenter of the day was William Thompson from the University
of California, Irvine. He gave a presentation entitled
"Interpreting DNA Evidence: Psychological, Ethical, and
Statistical Considerations". In his presentation, he gave
examples of cases in which there may have been questionable DNA interpretations.
At
approximately 5:15 pm, Ron Rubocki adjourned the first day of the
meeting. A pizza party was held after the meeting at the Texas
Trooper's Association. The pizza was served courtesy of AFDAA.
DAY
2
The
second day of the meeting was called to order by Ron Rubocki at
approximately 8:20 am on Friday January 10, 2003.
Catherine
Caballero reminded all applicants to turn in their applications and
dues at this time in order to be considered for membership at today's
business meeting.
The
first presenter of the day was Arthur Young of National Medical
Services. His lecture was entitled "Back to Basics: Body Fluid
Identification 2003".
Morning
break was sponsored by AFDAA.
Catherine
Caballero, Field Application Specialist, from Applied Biosystems
presented on "Applied Biosystems Human Identification Group Update".
Lisa
Lane, Regional Technical Specialist from Promega Corporation gave a
presentation on "Promega Product Update".
At
approximately 11:15 am, Ron Rubocki called the business meeting to
order. Approximately 103 members were present.
Gary
Molina presented the Meeting Minutes from the July 2002 meeting for
group acceptance. A motion was made by Joe Warren to accept the
minutes and seconded by George Schiro. The motion passed with no opposition.
Vice
Chair Wil Young presented new member applicants:
--April
Orbison - TX DPS, Austin
--James
Nichols - TX DPS, Garland
--Karla
Carmichael - Ft. Worth P. D.
--Sundaye
Lopez - Ft. Worth P. D.
--Pat
Johnson - TX DPS Field Laboratory Manager
--Mary
Long - DNA Solutions
--Lisa
Lane - Regional Technical Specialist from Promega Corporation
--Tiffany
Best - Harris County Medical Examiner's Office
--Angela
Rodriguez - TX DPS, Lubbock
--Uyen
Ngo - TX DPS, Houston
--Kristy
Smejkal - TX DPS, Houston
A
motion was made by Ron Rubocki to accept the applicants and seconded
by Arthur Young. The motion passed with no opposition. [Secretary's
Note: Several applicants, whose applications and dues were turned in
for consideration at this meeting, were accidentally overlooked by
the officers. AFDAA sends our regrets.]
Catherine
Caballero gave a treasury report citing a balance of $3,096.73.
Approximately $800 was collected at this meeting for dues and
registration fees. We have incurred approximately $600 in expenses
for this meeting including the fees for the website. Catherine spoke
about the online registration for this meeting and the success we had
with it. The main problem with this system was that most attendees
(>50%) registered two days prior to the meeting. This gave the
officers little time to prepare for the bigger turnout than they were
expecting. The officers have suggested having a deadline for online
registration. Members that register prior to this deadline can attend
the meeting for free as in the past. Non-members who register prior
to the deadline will be charged a $5.00 fee to attend or $10 dues
with an AFDAA membership application. All participants that do not
pre-register or who register online after the deadline will be asked
to pay a $10.00 registration fee, regardless of membership status.
This will help cover any last minute expenses incurred by the
unexpected late registrants. A motion was made by George Schiro to
accept the fee proposal and the motion was seconded. The motion
passed without opposition.
Ron
Rubocki asked for suggestions for future topics for our next meeting.
Wil
Young led a discussion on the need to update our by-laws, especially
in the area of ethics. Laura Schile suggested we incorporate a Code
of Ethics into our by-laws.
Forrest
Davis made a motion to form an Ethics Committee, Laura Schile
seconded the motion. Motion passed with no opposition and one abstention.
Those
wishing to volunteer for the Ethics Committee are asked to contact
Wil Young, Vice Chair.
Ron
Rubocki gave a summary of the events that took place after the last
meeting in regards to some concerns raised by a member in reference
to other members possibly not abiding to the present by-laws. Under
the current by-laws, those AFDAA members not abiding by the by-laws
could have their membership revoked. An ad hoc committee had been
formed to look at some data from these individuals in question. The
committee members consisted of:
--Wil
Young, Vice Chair, AFDAA, Texas DPS Austin Laboratory
--Catherine
Caballero, Treasurer, AFDAA, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA
--Gary
Molina, Secretary, AFDAA, Texas DPS Austin Laboratory
--Joe
Warren, University of North Texas Health Science Center
--Bill
Watson, Orchid Cellmark, Nashville, TN
--Arthur
Young, National Medical Services, Willow Grove, PA
--Pat
Wojkiewicz, North Louisiana Crime Laboratory, Shreveport, LA
--John
Kresbach, Albuquerque Police Department Crime Laboratory,
Albuquerque NM
--Garon
Foster, Bexar County Forensic Science Center, San Antonio, TX
--Patricia
Graham - Texas DPS, Corpus Christi
Those
ad hoc committee members present at the meeting gave their
conclusions of the information given to them, which included
responses from those in question. All committee members present
recommended that no further action should be taken on this issue.
John Planz made the motion to accept the committee's findings, Jane
Burgett seconded the motion. The motion passed with one member opposing.
A
motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Aliece Watts and seconded
by Joe Warren
Minutes
respectively submitted by Gary Molina, Secretary, for the January
2003 AFDAA meeting. |
