The California Forensic Science Institute (CFSI) at California State University, Los Angeles, is committed to advancing the forensic sciences through a multidisciplinary program focusing on research development, professional training, student support, and community engagement. We are dedicated to upholding the highest professional, scientific, and academic standards in our service to the University, forensic science profession, and justice community.
Academics
Explore our Programs
New Partnership
California Forensic Science Institute and School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics new partnership
A team of experienced post-conviction attorneys is establishing the Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) at Cal State LA, bringing the fight to free the wrongfully convicted to the university. Through the new partnership, the litigators will work alongside faculty and students in the university’s California Forensic Science Institute and School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics to identify and investigate cases of individuals with credible claims of actual innocence, and to litigate those claims where new evidence supports overturning a conviction.
AAFS TV Thought Leadership Film Series
In the News
Wrongfully convicted client of Los Angeles Innocence Project at Cal State LA freed after 38 years
Maurice Hastings, a 69-year-old man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 38 years, was freed after new DNA test results presented by the Los Angeles Innocence Project at Cal State LA pointed conclusively to another suspect.
Bonnie Roswell Reports on CFSI
Cal State LA Criminalistics Students
Bonnie Boswell Reports on PBS SoCal/KECT - The role of Cal State LA criminalistics graduate students in wrongful convictions investigations.
Televisa Univision News Segment
Useful Links
Meet our advisory board members
Learn about our advisory board and consultant members.
Special Events
CFSI offers special events and trainings for our students. Don't miss out!
Forensic Science Resources
Explore several list of journals and articles published by our students.
Students and Faculty Highlights
American Academy of Forensic Sciences 2024 - Justice for All
Cal State LA visiting scholar Paige Barker is a Lecturer in Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, delivering seminars on concepts of forensic mental health and qualitative research methods. Her current PhD research investigates Factitious Disorders and how they relate to the psychology of offenders. She is collaborating with Professor Yorker on peer-reviewed manuscripts to update research on Healthcare Serial Killers. Paige is currently designing a psychometric to be used to delineate Munchausen by Proxy, Medical Child Abuse, Fabricated, and Induced Illness, and other measures to explore female offending behaviors. Paige and Professor Yorker presented with a team of investigators on Medical Child Abuse at the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Colloquium in New Orleans, June 12-13, 2024.
The Cal State LA campus is the site of the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, a partnership between the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, the LAPD (Scientific Investigation Division), the LASD (Scientific Services Bureau), and the California Forensic Science Institute (CFSI). Paige toured the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center's forensic operational and academic laboratories during her visit.
Beatrice Yorker, Professor Emerita, Professor of Nursing, Criminal Justice and Criminalistics
Paige Barker BSc (Hons), AFHEA, PhD Candidate, Liverpool John Moores University, England
Dr. Katherine A. Roberts, Executive Director, California Forensic Science Institute
American Academy of Forensic Sciences 2024 - Justice for All
Community Engagement Program
