CASTCorp International is honored and privileged to announce that James “Jim” Stam has joined our consortium of expert consultants and investigators. He brings 36 years of experience in criminalistics and crime lab management to our team, enabling us to offer our clients expert review, analysis and recommendations for expert witness examinations on such topics as DNA, document and latent print examination and any other crime lab-specific subject area. On some 400 occasions to date, Jim has provided analysis and expert opinion testimony on alcohol, narcotics, firearms, serology, evidence collection, crime scene reconstruction and trace evidence, including shoe impressions and GSR. He holds a Certificate of Professional Competency in Criminalistics from the American Board of Criminalistics and was certified as a Forensic Alcohol Supervisor from 1983-2008.

Jim obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974. In 1975, he joined the Alameda County (California) Sheriff’s Department as a criminalist. Three years later, he accepted the position of Criminalist with the San Diego Police Department. In 1982, Jim was promoted to Supervising Criminalist, a position he retained until his retirement from public service in May of 2008. At various times, Jim supervised the Alcohol Analysis, Narcotics Analysis, Narcotics Storage, Polygraph, Serology, DNA, Firearms, Trace Evidence and Crime Scene units. He examined and helped reconstruct more than 150 crime scenes and was actively involved with the SDPD’s Officer Involved Shooting Team for 18 years. Jim was also a member of the Uniform and Safety Committee, 2001-2008, charged with the evaluation of bullet-proof vest technology.

During his more than three decades as a criminalist, Jim attended more than 40 professional courses and seminars, covering such topics as soil microscopy, bloodstain pattern identification, DNA evidence, crime scene and collision reconstruction, advanced electrophoresis, explosives identification and handling, firearms and assault weapons identification, firearms trajectory, drug/alcohol recognition and Intoxilyzer 8000 theory and operation, to name some. He is a graduate of the FBI’s Documents Examination and Alcohol and Drug seminars, as well as the Bullet Trajectory Reconstruction School and Gunshot Primer Residue Symposium. He also completed Beretta’s Armorer Training Program and he participated in 32 alcoholic beverage consumption studies involving 245 subjects. He has been an instructor for such subjects as firearms trajectory, crime scene reconstruction and alcohol expert analysis for criminalists. He has been a sought-after presenter on the subject of criminalistics, having made presentations to San Diego area schools, the Bar Association and Criminal Defense Bar Association, the Trial lawyers Association, the Administrative Office of the Court and other groups.

In 2008, Jim was awarded the Anthony J. Longhetti Distinguished Member Award by the California Association of Criminalists (CAC). Jim joined CAC in 1975 and has served in multiple committee and elected officer roles including that of President. Jim was also an active member of the California Association of Crime Lab Directors from 1983 until his retirement from the SDPD in 2008.