Los Angeles Visionaries Association

 “Your presentation was the highlight of the California Crime Writers Conference.” - Tyler Dilts, Author of "A King of Infinite Space" and the forthcoming "The Pain Scale"

•“Yours was one of the most meaningful workshops I've ever attended. Keep up the good work.” - Dr. Bernie DePaolis

• “Top 3 Reasons I Recommend THE WRITERS HOMICIDE SCHOOL taught by SGT. DEREK PACIFICO

#1. Sgt. Pacifico is a truly talented speaker and a gifted teacher. Sure, you can sit at home and read about police procedure and investigation, but nothing compares to seeing and hearing the actual detailsofamurdercasefirst-hand. I had to cover my eyes for some of the photos, but otherwise, perfect!

#2. During the two-day seminar, we were able to ask questions and discuss issues with a veteran homicide investigator, and there just aren't many opportunities to do that.

To spend this much time with police detectives, I would've had to commit a felony and get arrested.

#3. I learned that ‘Decomp Smoothie’ is not a delicious, vitamin- enriched protein drink at Jamba Juice. It's something else.” - Carol Rotundo 

The CRIME WRITER’S HOMICIDE SCHOOL brings you real details from actual homicides. In this dynamic, three-day lecture series, you'll learn what happens in a murder investigation from the moment police are called all the way to the end with police interrogation techniques. You will know how the cops get confessions without the rubber hose and hot lights. You’ll learn about response procedures, evidence collection, autopsy protocols and much more, taught by an experienced homicide detective.

And for authors, it's the heart of mystery. Whether you write page-turners; thrillers; classic private eye novels ; or cozies with kitty cats and cookies, a dead body and a cop will show up in your story sooner or later.

Bring life to your characters and plots with authentic procedures and crime scene details you can only learn from someone who's been there for hundreds of murder cases and thousands of interviews and interrogations.

Your Speaker: Sergeant Derek Pacifico

•21 year veteran of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department

•6 years in the Homicide Bureau

•Hundreds of murder investigations

•Thousands of interrogations

•Public speaker and law enforcement instructor since 1995

•Private training consultant since 2005

To purchase a ticket for this special event, click here. If you'd like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA's occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Visionary Professor Donald Johnson, in association with LAVA and Esotouric, invites you to participate in a special four-hour event at LA’s regional crime laboratory, on the campus of Cal State LA. Space is very limited and pre-reservation required for this unprecedented opportunity to tour the crime lab, learn from working forensic investigators and educators, and discover the real art and science of crime scene investigation.

"Cracking the Case: Patrick Tillman / Industry Hills Sheraton" is an exploration of the scientific investigation of equivocal violent death, revealed through methods of 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.

"Cracking The Case" consists of one crime investigation lecture by Forensic Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Michael I. Kelley, one crime investigation lecture by Professor Donald Johnson, and related breakout scientific workshops offering illustration of the concepts raised by both investigations. 

LECTURE #1 is Michael I. Kelley's presentation on his investigation of the 2004 death of Army Ranger Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan. Mr. Kelley an Adjunct Professor with the Forensic Science Department, California State University – Los Angeles and a Firearm and Toolmark Examiner with the Scientific Investigation Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Patrick Tillman was an American football player who left his professional sports career and enlisted in the United States Army in May 2002. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Tillman proudly put his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals on hold to serve his country. He and his brother Kevin joined the U.S. Army in July 2002, committing to a three-year term, volunteering for Airborne (paratrooper) and Ranger training, plus volunteering for assignment to a Ranger Unit, the 2nd battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington. The Tillman brothers served tours in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004. 

On April 22, 2004, Patrick Tillman was killed in action. Because initial investigations into the circumstances of his death had alleged inadequacies, the United States Congress and the Commander in Chief ordered the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command to conduct the investigation. In Spring 2006, Michael I. Kelley was selected as the team leader for the Army’s crime scene reconstruction investigation of the death incident of Corporal Tillman. Mr. Kelley planned the on-site actions for the scene reconstruction and proceed to the Afghanistan village of Tit located in the Khowst Province of Afghanistan near the Pakistan/Afghanistan border under the security of the US Army Infantry, where he conducted the reconstruction of the shooting incident two years to the hour from the date of Tillman's death. Mr. Kelley’s technical expertise in firearms and crime scene reconstruction proved invaluable during the reconstruction and was the main reason for the overall success of the mission.

It was determined that Ranger Corporal Patrick Tillman died as a result of friendly fire while his unit was engaged in combat with enemy forces. Tillman's platoon was ambushed with small arms and mortar fire at while conducting combat operations in Khowst, Afghanistan. When the Army unit was ambushed by enemy forces, part of the Ranger patrol (including Corporal Tillman) immediately responded. Tillman was shot and killed while responding to enemy fire without regard for his own safety. He focused his efforts on the elimination of enemy forces and the protection of his team members. There is an inherent degree of confusion in any firefight, particularly when a unit is ambushed, and especially under difficult light and terrain conditions which produce an environment that increases the likelihood of fratricide. The results of the investigation in no way diminish the bravery and sacrifice displayed by Corporal Tillman.

Mr. Kelley's presentation on his investigation into Patrick Tillman's death will offer fascinating insights into the little-known science of battlefield forensics and clear up many of the misconceptions that still linger from this controversial incident.

LECTURE #2 is Professor Donald Johnson's presentation on his crime scene reconstruction of the 1996 Industry Hills Sheraton incident. The case involved a woman who fell or was pushed to her death from her hotel balcony. Professor Johnson's reconstruction of her fall had great bearing on the criminal investigation.

In November 1996, Sandra Orellana and her married boss Robert Salazar traveled from Houston on a business trip to Los Angeles, staying the night in the Industry Hills Sheraton Hotel. They were seen behaving affectionately towards each other in the hotel bar. In the morning, Orellana's badly battered corpse was discovered on the ground beneath her room's balcony. Although Salazar initially denied knowing anything about her death, physical evidence indicated that he had undressed hastily in her room the night before. Salazar then changed his story, admitting he had sex with Orellana, but claiming it was consensual, and that she had accidentally fallen from the balcony and he had panicked. Professor Johnson's crime scene reconstruction takes the facts and evidence in a complex and confusing death narrative and determines what really happened on that balcony in 1996.

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

Cost: $36.50 per person. To reserve your spot, click here.  Please note that space is extremely limited for this special event.

A portion of the proceeds from this event supports the research of Criminalistics graduate students at Cal State Los Angeles.

Join Friends of the Los Angeles River for a special tour with HiddenLA:
Carpool tour (option to leave midday)
Led by Jenny Price

Everyone in Los Angeles has seen the LA River, and has heard that it's being revitalized. But who knows where it is, exactly--and what exactly is happening on its banks?

Join us as we walk and drive along the river, to talk about its central role in the city's history and the necessity of the ambitious revitalization projects to LA's future.

The tour convenes at the River Center  (570 W Ave. 26, near the 5/110--8:30am sharp!--for a 9:00 departure), where we form carpools, and stops at the verdant Glendale Narrows, the historic Arroyo Seco confluence, and the industrial downtown stretch that everyone's seen in movies and on TV.
 
We'll eat lunch at an excellent Boyle Heights taqueria en route (or feel free to bring your own)--and then we'll head into the even less well-known South, to the new Maywood Riverfront Park, an optional raspados stop in Bell, and the stunning new Dominguez Gap wetland in Long Beach.

Bring snacks and water and shoes that can get a little wet.  Dogs welcome.

DIRECTIONS TO RIVER CENTER:

http://www.lamountains.com/maps/riverCenter.pdf 

(or Metro Gold Line--Lincoln/Cypress exit, W 3 blocks on Ave. 26, entrance on S side 1/2 blk after Figueroa)

Tour LA's mighty River -- w/Friends of the LA River!

Led by Jenny Price

Everyone in Los Angeles has seen the LA River, and has heard that it's being revitalized. But who knows where it is, exactly--and what exactly is happening on its banks?

Join us as we walk and drive along the river, to talk about its central role in the city's history and the necessity of the ambitious revitalization projects to LA's future.

The tour convenes at the River Center  (570 W Ave. 26, near the 5/110--9:00am sharp!--for a 9:30 departure), where we form carpools, and stops at the verdant Glendale Narrows, the historic Arroyo Seco confluence, and the industrial downtown stretch that everyone's seen in movies and on TV. 
 
We'll eat lunch at an excellent Boyle Heights taqueria en route (or feel free to bring your own)--and then we'll head into the even less well-known South, to the new Maywood Riverfront Park and the stunning new Dominguez Gap wetland in Long Beach.

 Bring snacks and water and shoes that can get a little wet.  Dogs welcome.

Tour LA's mighty river!-- w/ Friends of the LA River.

Special water-in LA tour--with speakers from Santa Monica Baykeeper, Food & Water Watch, & Environment Now

Everyone in Los Angeles has seen the LA River, and has heard that it's being revitalized. But who knows where it is, exactly--and what exactly is happening on its banks?  On this carpool tour, we'll walk and drive along the river, as we talk about its central role in the city's history and the necessity of the ambitious revitalization to LA's future.

The tour convenes at the River Center, where we form carpools, and stops at the verdant Glendale Narrows, a new stormwater park in the same stretch, and the historic Arroyo Seco confluence, and the industrial downtown stretch that everyone's seen in movies and on TV.  We'll eat lunch at an excellent Boyle Heights taqueria en route (or you can bring your own)--and we'll head into the even less well-known South, to the new Maywood Riverfront Park and the stunning new Dominguez Gap wetland.

Led by Jenny Price.  Carpool tour-- Option to leave midday.
 
$25 adults, $20 students/seniors/nonprofits, kid rates. Family and group rates available.  

To sign up, and for more info, click HERE

Tour the mighty Los Angeles River!-- w/ Friends of the LA River.

Everyone in Los Angeles has seen the LA River, and has heard that it's being revitalized. But who knows where it is, exactly--and what exactly is happening on its banks?  On this carpool tour, we'll walk and drive along the river, as we talk about its central role in the city's history and the necessity of the ambitious revitalization to LA's future.

The Valley tour visits one of the least-known stretches--with stops at the headwaters, the verdant stretch in the Sepulveda Basin, the 1/2-mile-long Great Wall of LA mural and new Tujunga Wash Greenway, and the new park projects through the neighborhoods and film studios in Sherman Oaks and Studio City and beyond. We'll eat lunch at an excellent Thai noodle shop en route (other options too--or feel free to bring your lunch), and we'll end with an optional stop at the legendary Cuban bakery Porto's.

Led by Jenny Price.  Option to leave midday.

Bring snacks and water and shoes that can get just a little wet.  Dogs welcome.
 
$25 adults, $20 students/seniors/nonprofits, $5 kids. Family and group rates available.   

To sign up, and for more info, click HERE.

If you’d like to be contacted when other crime lab tours and lectures are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Click here to purchase your ticket for the April 17 event. For a crime lab preview from participating criminalistics graduate students, see this video.

Visionary Professor Donald Johnson, in association with LAVA and Esotouric, invites you to participate in a special four-hour event at LA’s regional crime laboratory, on the campus of Cal State LA. Space is very limited and pre-reservation required for this unprecedented opportunity to spend an afternoon in the company of Lynne Herold, Senior Criminalist with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

"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 blood stain patterns in the analysis of complex crime scenes (and one or more lucky raffle winners will get the chance to create their own blood stain patterns the way the pros do, by beating a blood-soaked sponge with a baseball bat). 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, so different from and so much more interesting than, what you've seen on TV.

BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Lynne Herold, Ph.D. is a Senior Criminalist in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Scientific Services Bureau. She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Kent State University in 1974, and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from USC in 1984. Over the past two decades, Dr. Herold has been involved in hundreds of "high profile" cases, and has been instrumental in the successful prosecution of scores of murder and serial murder cases. In 2003, Dr. Herold was assigned to the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, whose name has been largely overshadowed by the celebrity status of her accused killer, record producer Phil Spector. Dr. Herold devoted in excess of 1000 hours of work to the case, which went to trial in 2007. Dr. Herold's examination of the physical evidence in this case was technical, detailed, exhaustive and her conclusions compelling. Additionally, she was able to advise prosecutors as to areas in which the testimony of "hired gun" defense experts Dr. Henry Lee and Dr. Michael Baden could be impeached. Dr. Herold's testimony, which lasted for five days before the eyes of the world via live television, was a textbook illustration of effective courtroom preparation and presentation. Although the 2007 trial ended in a mistrial (10 to 2 for guilt), jurors who were interviewed stated that her testimony was so well presented, they completely discounted the testimony of defense experts. In his second trial in 2009, Phil Spector was convicted of the murder of Lana Clarkson and sentenced to 19 years to life. In 2008, Dr. Herold was honored as the California Homicide Investigators' Association Support Person of the Year.

A portion of the proceeds from this event supports the research of Criminalistics graduate students at Cal State Los Angeles.

Please note that NO PHOTOGRAPHS OR VIDEOTAPING of the presentation will be permitted, and cell phones must be stowed away. The material presented is graphic and intense. No children will be admitted.

If you'd like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA's occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Visionary Professor Donald Johnson, in association with LAVA and Esotouric, invites you to participate in a special three-hour event at LA’s regional crime laboratory, on the campus of Cal State LA. Space is very limited and pre-reservation required for this unprecedented opportunity to tour the crime lab, learn from working forensic investigators and educators, and discover the real art and science of crime scene investigation.

Cost: $35 per person. To reserve your spot, and for payment instructions, contact Kim through the contact link above. We will need your full name, email address and the name(s) of anyone whose ticket you wish to purchase. If your friends wish to buy their own tickets, they should reserve individually. Please note that space is extremely limited for this special event.

"The Science and Art of Forensic Investigations: Criminalistics from Test Tube to Testimony" provides an insider’s view of the scientific investigation of crime, as  Criminalistics faculty and graduate students share their knowledge and insight on the theory and practice of forensic science in our criminal justice system.  Attendees will also tour Cal State LA’s state-of the-art teaching and research facilities at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center.

The afternoon begins with an introduction to the field of Criminalistics and the use of physical evidence in criminal investigations, hosted by Professors Donald Johnson and Katherine Roberts, followed by an overview of the academic and research programs in Criminalistics at Cal State LA. 

Then, attendees will be provided with additional insight on forensic methods during breakout sessions on Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Chemistry, and Forensic Biology.  The CSI session, hosted by Donald Johnson and Katherine Scriven, highlights tools used by forensic specialists in the field and emerging technologies in CSI.  The Forensic Chemistry session, hosted by Katherine Roberts and Isaac Cheney, surveys methods used for the analysis of trace evidence and controlled substances, and current research will be presented on the development of methods to detect narcotic-tampering by health professionals.  The Forensic Biology session, hosted by Kristin Honig and Stacy Wilkinson, highlights body fluid and DNA analysis, with a presentation on current research on methods to improve the recovery of semen in rape cases. 

The afternoon concludes with a true life investigation overview regarding the murder of a family in Los Angeles County and opportunities to ask questions.  By the program's conclusion, attendees will have a basic understanding of the strengths and limitations of forensic methods used in criminal investigations, and a fresh perspective on the real art and science that takes place behind the scenes and the headlines.   

A portion of the proceeds from this event supports the research of Criminalistics graduate students at Cal State Los Angeles.

Carolyn Kellogg moderates an LA Times Festival of Books panel discussion on books and the new media landscape with New Yorker writer Dana Goodyear, publishing producer Pablo Defendini and writer/blogger/actor Wil Wheaton.

Panels at the Festival of Books are free, although there is a processing fee for advance tickets from Ticketmaster.