Superior Training for Legal Nurse Consultants
Speakers
Jump to the Day Below
Thursday May 30 10 AM to 6 PM Eastern
How Do I Murder Thee: Let Me Count the Ways | Teresa Devitt-Lynch MSN RN AFN-BC, AFN-C, SANE-A
When the attorney turns to you and asks how the victim died, do you know what to look for? There are three methods of murder – causing loss of blood, loss of oxygen or loss of brain function. From bullets to knives to poison, there are many ways for one to stop the heart, lungs and brain of another.
As simple as that sounds, there are challenging complexities to murder and the mechanisms used to murder. You can be a key legal team member to help in deciphering the what, when, where and how of murder. You can address such questions as why death occurred, how far away was a shooter, at what angle was the knife thrust, what are toxic levels of poisons—vital information in defense or prosecution of the alleged killer.
You’ll discover key points in the
- 1. Pathomechanics of death in murder
- 2. Common mechanisms of murder
- 3. Tips for analyzing medical and police records in murder cases
Teresa Devitt-Lynch MSN RN AFN-BC, AFN-C, SANE-A is a certified adult Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and board certified Advanced Forensic Nurse. The proprietor of the INTREPID Forensic Healthcare Consulting firm, she provides criminal case consultation and expert witness services for military and civilian courts.
Decoding Infant Mortality: From SIDS to Criminal Charges| Pamela Tabor DNP, AFN-BC, AFN-DF, IAFN-DF
The woman calling 911 screams, “My baby! I woke up and found her not breathing! Help me! I think she is dead!”
When her defense attorney calls you for help, you’ll need the essential information Pamela shares in this session. Discover the differences between sudden infant death syndrome and sudden unexpected infant death. Determine if the proper investigation protocols were followed. You’ll gain specific insights about feticide, neonaticide, and infanticide.
Pamela will also cover one of the most volatile criminal charges, that of abusive head trauma. You’ll see the evidence of mechanisms of trauma and physical findings observed with abusive head trauma in the photos from gripping case studies. You’ll leave this session with expanded knowledge about cases of infant deaths.
Pamela Tabor DNP, AFN-BC, AFN-DF, IAFN-DF has practiced in forensics since 1997 and holds a DNP, with a forensic focus.Sh, is a Board-Certified Advance Forensic Nurse and has an Advance Health Specialty Forensic Science Certification, in addition to being a Certified Law Enforcement Standards and Training Instructor. She has earned the Academy of Forensic Nurses Distinguished Fellow in 2022 and the International Association of Forensic Nurses Distinguished Fellow in 2015.
Dr. Tabor’s work includes serving as a consultant and expert witness in the private sector and she serves the Department of Defense in military trials. She has testified before the legislature on numerous occasions and has consulted at the Pentagon.
Insider Tips for LNCs Thriving in the Criminal Case Arena
Wendy Votroubek MPH RN and Teresa Devitt-Lynch
You’re going to walk away from this conference with a lot of knowledge, support, and networking. How do you translate that into more cases? In this face-paced session, Pat Iyer will interview Wendy and Teresa to bring out their wisdom on practical aspects of working on forensic cases. You’ll get tips on finding attorneys handling criminal cases, getting paid, hiring subcontractors, and some of the special nuances of criminal cases. Get answers to your questions too! You won’t want to miss this session.
Wendy Votroubek MPH RN, is the founder of Integrity Legal Nurse Consulting PDX, which provides legal nurse consulting expertise to translate medical records into real-world explanations, whether civil or criminal. Our nurses are specialists in their fields and provide critical review and analysis. We assist our attorneys in understanding the medical issues as well as finding the good, bad, and the ugly. Criminal defense issues require a skilled forensic nurse to help determine if the record supports the allegations. Integrity nurses dig into the medical and forensic issues and assist attorneys with potential strengths and weaknesses of the attorney’s case.
Teresa Devitt-Lynch MSN RN AFN-BC, AFN-C, SANE-A is a certified adult Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and board certified Advanced Forensic Nurse. The proprietor of the INTREPID Forensic Healthcare Consulting firm, she provides criminal case consultation and expert witness services for military and civilian courts. Teresa has built a national and international practice.
Patricia Iyer MSN RN LNCC founded, expanded, and sold a thriving independent legal nursing consulting business. She learned many lessons about running a successful business, hiring, training and supervising subcontractors, and handled a variety of cases, some of which were criminal ones. She currently works with a handful of attorneys and trains LNCs through her coaching programs. She is a past president of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consulting.
Identifying Killers Among Us: New Ways to Use DNA to Solve the Coldest Cases | Arlene Klepatsky, JD, MSN, RN
A former employee of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's crime lab is accused of intentionally deleting, altering, and omitting data in official criminal justice records. CBI is now investigating allegations of tampering with more than 650 cases from 2008 to 2023. They are now going back further to examine her work starting in 1994. The repercussions are enormous for Yvonne Missy Woods, and for confidence in the work of CBI, possible need for new trials and reimbursement for inmates who might have been wrongfully convicted.
A prolific rapist and killer, known as the Golden State Killer, remained free and among us for fifty years. The 1967 murder of Susan Galvin remained unsolved for over fifty years. The kidnapper and killer of 8-year-old April Marie Tinsley lived free for thirty years, meanwhile taunting the community.
Each of these dangerous killers was finally identified using forensic (or investigative) genetic genealogy. Without this new technique, they likely would have remained free.
Join us to discover how DNA technology has developed through the years, finally culminating with a technique that is being used to identify dangerous killers who have remained free for too long. Find out.
- ● What is DNA?
● Where is DNA found?
● How have crime-solving techniques involving DNA evolved over time?
● How is previously collected crime scene evidence being reexamined?
● How have cold cases recently been solved using forensic genetic genealogy?
Arlene Klepatsky, JD, MSN, RN, Esq. has worked as a nurse attorney in both civil and criminal law. She earned a certificate in forensic nursing. She is fascinated by the use of DNA in exonerating the falsely accused and in how DNA is used to solve cold cases.
Exclusive VIP session moderated by Teresa Devitt-Lynch
Friday May 31 10 AM to 6 PM Eastern
Avoiding the Pitfalls: Ensuring Integrity of Forensic Evidence in Crime Scene Environments | Leo Perafan
If you’ve read enough murder mysteries, you know one of the biggest concerns is people trampling through evidence at the murder scene. Preserving forensic evidence is vital to criminal investigations. Forensic evidence is used to identify suspects, link victims and suspects to the crime scene, and sometimes reconstruct the crime itself. Often, investigators only have one shot at gathering the physical evidence they need to prove or disprove a crime was committed.
Just as important is the evidence collected during a healthcare setting and how that evidence is collected and documented. Evidence could be anywhere – the ED and on the nursing units.
Unfortunately, healthcare providers miss opportunities to preserve and collect evidence in healthcare settings because of a lack of education and training. Because healthcare providers are not routinely trained in evidence identification, preservation, collection, and maintaining a proper chain of custody, vital evidence is often inadvertently destroyed, contaminated and not collected at all. In turn, the investigation may be stalled or compromised due to the absence of key evidence.
This session with seasoned investigator Leo Perafan will open your eyes to the critical questions LNCs can ask in working with attorneys about the evidence that may be present and collected in healthcare settings and how it is often destroyed or contaminated.
Leo Perafan is a retired Police Sergeant from a Southern California municipal police department and has over 30 years of civil service experience. Perafan is currently a licensed Private Investigator in Arizona and California and works in several disciplines in that field, including consulting for criminal and civil cases.
Leo’s professional career includes service as a Marine, paramedic, U.S. Border and police officer. During his time as a police officer, Perafan worked for over 15 years as an investigator in different capacities. The bulk of his investigative experience in criminal cases came as a Major Crimes Detective.
During his tenure as a police detective, Leo had the opportunity to work dozens of major crimes, many of which involved the collection of forensic evidence from crime scenes, victims or suspects. His skills in obtaining and interpreting forensic evidence led to hundreds of case closures and subsequent convictions. Perafan also has seen how missteps in the chain of custody can lead to cases being dismissed leaving victims without obtaining justice.
Burden of Proof: A Deep Dive into the Legal System | Joe Flores Esq MSN RN NP
In a controversial case, Jennifer and James Crumbley were convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter when their son Ethan killed four students and injured seven others in 2021 in Michigan. Do you know the difference between first, second, third-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter?
In this session, Attorney Joe Flores will take you through the legal minefield to focus on how to interpret the types of charges, and the burden of proof. You will discover how the prosecution uses medical evidence to prove the case, such as bags of body parts with the killer’s DNA inside the bag or blood splatter hastily removed from walls. The list goes on. Get ready for a fast ride through the halls of justice as Joe deciphers the legal world for us.
Joe Flores JD MSN RN NP has a diverse practice that includes criminal defense, personal injury, healthcare fraud and more. He is a former legal nurse consultant who worked his way through law school by reviewing records for attorneys. He practices as a nurse practitioner as well.
Healthcare Serial Killers: Psychopathy Flourishing in Organizational Neglect | Patricia Iyer MSN RN LNCC
No one is safe when a healthcare serial killer is hunting for victims. These unimaginable crimes rip families apart, damage the healthcare facility’s reputation, and result in civil and criminal lawsuits.
In this session, you’ll learn what motivates serial healthcare killers and how the system of trust within our healthcare walls allows them to kill patients. You’ll understand how three nurses and a doctor were able to get away with murder.
In addition to describing the institutional failures surrounding serial killers, Nurse Heather Pressdee, Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, and Nurse Lucy Letby, Pat will share her firsthand experiences working on the case of Charles Cullen, the most prolific serial killer.
Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC worked with one of the prosecutors to identify Charles Cullen’s victims. She has been an LNC since 1987 and built a large multi-million dollar independent LNC business in Flemington, NJ. She currently serves attorneys and legal nurse consultants. Pat is a past president of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.
Laser coaching sessions by Teresa Devitt-Lynch
Exclusive VIP session moderated by Teresa Devitt-Lynch
Saturday June 1 10 AM to 3 PM Eastern
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Jean Cooper MSN RN LNCC
Susan’s nightmare started when her daughter Lily died. In this session, Jean Cooper presents her role and that of a multitude of experts in the case of a 19-year-old African American single mother, Susan, in Arizona who was convicted of murdering her 10-month-old daughter, Lily. Jean documents the many ways in which virtually every practitioner involved arrived at conclusions that put the blame on Susan for Lily’s death.
The team of experts and lawyers involved sought to reverse the conviction based on new evidence and reinterpretation of hospital records. Discover what happened in this engrossing session.
Join us to find out
● What is a post-conviction relief case?
● How do assumptions color medical diagnoses?
● What challenges are involved in trying to reverse a conviction?
● How does prejudice influence interpretations of medical data?
● Why is it crucial to assess data on its own merits and dig deeper when they are ambiguous?
Jean Cooper MSN RN LNCC is an independent LNCC working with attorneys in the areas of criminal defense, medical malpractice, and personal injury. She has extensive experience working within the Veterans Administration and as a legal nurse consultant for a medical malpractice defense law firm.
I Can’t Breathe: A Forensic Review of Strangulation and Asphyxiation | Tristan Ashly Wristen MSN BSN RN FN-CSA, SANE-A
Devin Ratray, a “Home Alone” actor, pled guilty to charges of domestic assault and battery by strangulation. According to reports, he allegedly punched her in the face, covered her mouth with his hand, and then attempted to strangle her. Fortunately, his girlfriend survived. He stayed out of prison by agreeing to attend behavior intervention plan classes, undergo drug and alcohol assessments, and have no contact with the woman he assaulted.
Do you know what a forensic nurse examiner or medical provider can determine in such a case involving strangulation or asphyxia? What does medical documentation say about what occurred in fatal and non-fatal cases? In this session, you will learn what variables increase or decrease the likelihood of medical findings. You will gain confidence in serving as a consultant on cases involving allegations of strangulation or asphyxia.
Tristan Ashly Wristen MSN BSN RN FN-CSA, SANE-A spent ten years as an Emergency Department RN. She is board-certified as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and has qualified as an expert in sexual assault, strangulation, and injury causation. Tristan is a professor and teaches undergraduate nursing students at Ocean County College and precepts graduate students in forensic nursing at Monmouth University in New Jersey.