Moenssens, Andre A. J.D., LL.M.

BELGIAN
FORENSIC CONSULTANT

Andre Moenssens did both his pre-legal studies and his early forensic studies in his native Belgium. In 1950, he began a formal study of fingerprints and fingerprint analysis under the mentorship of Major Georges E. Defawe. In 1953, Moenssens joined the International Association for Identification (IAI); in 1956 he immigrated to the United States. He studied law at the Illinois Institute of Technology-Kent College of Law, where he received his J.D. cum laude in 1966. He completed his Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) at Northwestern University in 1967.

Moenssens continued to pursue his forensic science interests as head instructor in fingerprint identification at the Institute of Applied Science in Chicago (1960–1967). He was also the associate editor of the Fingerprint and Identification magazine from 1960 to 1968.

After completing his academic legal studies, Moenssens began his professional tenure as a law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law (1967–1973), the University of Richmond in Virginia (1973–1995), and the University of Missouri at Kansas City (1996–2002), where he was on the doctoral faculty and held the Douglas Stripp Professorship in Law. From 1993 to 1995, and again in 2004, Moenssens was Visiting Professor of Law, holding the William J. Mayer Chair, at West Virginia University. After retirement from teaching, he again turned his attention to the world of forensic science.

Moenssens has been the editor of the Illinois Law Enforcement Officers Law Bulletin since 1972; he was elected to membership in the prestigious Scientific Working Group on Friction Ridge Analysis, Study, and Technology (SWGFAST). He has been a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences since 1966, where he has served two terms as secretary-treasurer (among other leadership positions). Moenssens is also a member of the Canadian Identification Society, The United Kingdom's Forensic Science Society, and the Indiana Division of the IAI (formerly a member of the Virginia Division of the IAI as well).

Andre Moenssens authored Fingerprints and the Law (1969) and Fingerprint Techniques (1971), was the senior co-author of Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases (5th edition, 2005), and Cases and Comments on Criminal Law (7th edition, 2003). He has also written dozens of articles, presentation and position papers, books and book chapters, and commentaries on criminal justice and the forensic evidence . He remains a sought-after forensic consultant and public speaker, and has also made consistent contributions to the field of forensic science via both the Computer Forensics International Web site and his evolving Forensic Evidence Web site and database.

see also Criminal responsibility, historical concepts; Criminology; Fingerprint; Friction ridge skin and personal identification: a history of latent fingerprint analysis.