Forensic Training Academies

Deion Christophe is a Forensic Firearms Examiner, in the Firearms Examination Unit and NIBIN Center, at the Plano Police Department. Mr. Christophe is a licensed Forensic Analyst with the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC), and serves as a member of the TFSC Licensing Advisory Committee. He is an expert in the areas of microscopic comparison of firearms evidence and ammunition components, the operation of the NIBIN/IBIS terminal, tool mark examination and comparison, GSR (primer residue) analyses, distance determinations, serial number restoration and firearm functionality. He has trained law enforcement in several states and has experience in identifying, collecting, preserving, examining, and interpreting the results of physical evidence associated with criminal acts, and testifying to those results in Federal, State and district courts of law. Christophe has previously been employed as a Firearms Examiner with the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences, NMS Labs, Oklahoma City Police Department, and Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory - Austin. He formerly served as a professor with the University of Central Oklahoma's Forensic Science Institute, a visiting Adjunct Professor with Staffordshire University, United Kingdom, and as an advisor with the Oklahoma Innocence Project. He is a distinguished member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE), Associate member with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (Criminalistics), Past President and Lifetime member of the Oklahoma Division of the International Association for Identification, and member with the Texas Division of the International Association for Identification.

Omar Felix has been a Firearms Examiner for 25 years and is a distinguished member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners. He began his training with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando crime lab before moving to South Florida to work for the Palm Beach County Sheriffs office in West Palm Beach. In 2021, he moved to Englewood, Colorado where he currently works as a Firearms Examiner with the Unified Forensic Laboratory. Omar is currently the Chair of AFTE's Machining and Subclass subcommittee which created a machining and subclass guide for the association's members.

Jeff Goudeau is currently the Firearms Supervisor for the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory. He is a Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst (IAI) and certified in Firearms Evidence Examination and Identification (AFTE). Jeff has earned a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Laboratory Science. He is the past President of the Louisiana Association of Forensic Science (LAFS). Jeff is a Distinguished Member of the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE), served as Chair of the Ethics Committee and was the Chairman for the 2016 training seminar. He is a member of the Association of Crime Scene Reconstruction (ACSR) and the International Association of Identification (IAI). He is currently an instructor for the National Firearms Examiner Academy, an adjunct professor for Oklahoma State University, and a former adjunct professor at Baton Rouge Community College and Our Lady of Lake College. Jeff has also been an instructor for numerous crime scene courses over the span of his career. He is a routine guest speaker for several colleges and professional organizations. Jeff has published papers in Firearms Examination and Shooting Reconstruction. He's been qualified as an expert witness numerous times in various fields including Firearms Examination, Crime Scene Investigation, and Shooting Reconstruction.

Alex Luby is a Firearms Examiner with the Unified Forensic Laboratory (UFL) in Englewood, CO. Alex holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice with a minor in Criminalistics. Alex began his career as a NIBIN Technician at the UFL and is a graduate of the National Firearms Examiner Academy hosted by the ATF. He is a member of committees within the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) and the Technical Working Group for 3D Toolmark Technologies (TWG3D2T). Alex has also presented numerous times including his own research on machining operations at the 2024 AFTE annual training seminar in Anchorage, AK. His professional interests focus on machining methods, firearm manufacture, firearm function, and law.

Paul J Murphy has been a Forensic Firearm Examiner since 1984 and served in the South African Police for 22 years (1977-1999). Mr. Murphy was trained as a Forensic Firearm Examiner by the South African Police Forensic Science Laboratory. During his career of 15 years in the South African Police Forensic Science Laboratory he worked more than six thousand (6000) Forensic Ballistic and Tool Mark related cases. Mr. Murphy testified in the various court systems of Southern Africa. During 1996 Mr. Murphy established the Eastern Cape Forensic Science Laboratory in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and served as the Commanding Officer with the rank of Senior Superintendent (Colonel) until his resignation from the South African Police Service in 1999. Paul J Murphy worked for the Virginia DFS (Division of Forensic Sciences) from 1999 to 2005 as a Senior Forensic Scientist and completed more than two thousand (2000) Forensic Ballistic and Tool Mark related cases and testified numerous times in the District Courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia as well is the United States Federal Court. Paul J Murphy is former the Senior Firearms Technical Advisor (subject matter expert)/Forensic Firearm Examiner for LeadsOnline Forensic Technology, a position he held from November 2005 to November 2024. Mr. Murphy visits Forensic Laboratories across the world in his capacity as Senior Firearms Technical Advisor for LeadsOnline Forensic Technology. Paul Murphy is currently the Principal Consultant for Paul Murphy Firearm Forensics: www.murphyfirearmforensics.com. Mr. Murphy holds an Advanced Diploma in Forensic Criminalistics from the University of South Africa. Mr. Murphy holds a Certificate in Forensic Firearms and Tool Mark Examinations for Specialists from the South African Police Service Forensic Science Laboratory. Mr. Murphy holds a certification as a Forensic Scientist from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mr. Murphy holds a Diploma in Firearms Examination from the British Forensic Science Society. Mr. Murphy has been a Distinguished Member of AFTE (Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners) since 2000 and has been an AFTE Member since 1987.

Jimmy Palma brings over 14 years of expertise in Firearm and Toolmark Identification. He currently serves as the Senior Firearms Examiner and Technical Lead of the Firearms Unit at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) Crime Laboratory. Jimmy holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a specialization in Forensic Science from Saint Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida. He is an active and certified member of the Association of Firearms and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE), holding certification in Firearms Evidence Examination and Identification. Since 2015, Jimmy has contributed to the Electronic Resource Committee's (ERC) Quality Assurance Sub-Committee. He has completed training for ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) internal auditing and has provided expert witness testimony at the county, state, and federal levels.

Andy Smith, MS, is a Distinguished member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE). He is also certified in the areas of Firearms, Tool Marks, and Distance Determination. He is the Supervisor of the Firearm and Tool Mark Unit at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory. Mr. Smith served as a past President of AFTE from 2018-2019. He is the current AFTE representative to the Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) and is currently serving as the Chair of the FSSB. Mr. Smith earned his B.A. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.S. in Forensic Science from the University of New Haven. He began his employment and training in the field of Firearm and Toolmark Examination with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando Regional Crime Lab from 1999 to 2004. In 2004 he left Florida for California and began his employment with the San Francisco Police Department. Mr. Smith has extensive knowledge and casework experience in firearms examinations, toolmark examination, serial number restorations, fracture / physical fit comparisons and muzzle to garment distance determinations. Mr. Smith has also been trained and performed casework in primer residue testing and examination utilizing scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. Mr. Smith is a Technical Assessor for ANAB and is an instructor for the National Firearms Examiner Academy.