Jessica Giner joined the Criminal Justice program teaching faculty at City University in 2013, and is also the Program Director for the Criminal Justice program. Jessica has been the recipient of the City University of Seattle Distinguished Faculty Award (2016-2017).

Jessica completed her Juris Doctorate at Seattle University School of Law with an emphasis on Criminal Law, and is a recipient of the National Association of Women Judges Scholarship, and a Presidential Law Scholar. Jessica completed her Bachelors of Art in Communications, with a minor in English Literature at Seattle University, where she graduated Cum Laude.

Jessica began her career as a deputy prosecuting attorney, and served in misdemeanor, appellate, juvenile and felony divisions during her eight years with a county prosecutor’s office. Jessica prosecuted felony level special assault and sex offense cases, and provided training and education to other attorneys by developing state pattern jury instructions and teaching continuing legal education courses and has argued before the Washington State Court of Appeals. Jessica has also practiced as criminal defense counsel, before her appointment as a judge pro tempore.

Jessica now serves as a judge pro tempore for a variety of county and municipal courts in the greater Puget Sound area, presiding over criminal and civil cases. Her work on a variety of criminal law subject matters (including forensic evidence, sentencing guidelines, and sex and kidnap offender laws) has been published.

Mr. John Byers is on the faculty at City University of Seattle as an Associate Professor. Mr. Byers began his law enforcement career as a Patrol Officer and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with the Bristol Tennessee Police Department in 1996. In 1998, he cross-trained as a Public Safety Officer (Police Officer, Fire Fighter and EMT). In 1999, Mr. Byers was selected for the Criminal Investigations Division where he investigated drug, gambling and vice crimes, while supplementing the regional drug task force as an undercover agent.

From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Byers was a Special Agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), holding assignments at Patrick Air Force Base, FL and San Antonio, TX. During his time with AFOSI, he gained experience with anti-terrorism measures, vulnerability assessments, criminal investigations, counterintelligence matters, and major fraud investigations. In 2006, he made a brief stop as a Special Agent for the NASA Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations before being offered a Special Agent position with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), which is the criminal investigative arm of the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General. He began his DCIS career in the New Orleans Resident Agency before transferring to the Huntsville (Alabama) Post of Duty. In 2014, Special Agent Byers deployed to the DCIS Afghanistan Resident Agency in Kabul, Afghanistan. Special Agent Byers has been a part-time Computer Crimes Agent since 2009 and was selected for a full-time Cyber Crimes position with the DCIS Cyber Field Office, Eastern Resident Agency upon his return from Afghanistan in 2014.

Mr. Byers is a certified Digital Media Collector and Digital Forensic Examiner for the Department of Defense, and a recipient of the DCIS Million Dollar Club award. Mr. Byers also received the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism and the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Eagle Award for his service in Afghanistan. He holds a Master of Policy Management in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a B.A. in History and Political Science from King University. Mr. Byers also serves an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve

Tim Gately currently serves as a Lieutenant for the City of Redmond, Washington, Police Department. He oversees the Investigations Division, including responsibility for Detectives & Professional staff who specialize in general investigations, undercover operations, special victims, crime analysis, victim advocacy, and computer forensics. Lt. Gately also serves as a Board Member of the Puget Sound Regional ID Theft/Fraud Task Force and oversees the department liaisons to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, and the Washington State Fusion Center.

Prior to joining Redmond Police in 2004, Lt. Gately worked as a Washington State Patrol Trooper in the Bellevue and Seattle offices for five years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from City University of Seattle and a Master of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evan’s School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy Class #261 in Quantico (at the University of Virginia) and the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs, CO.

During his tenure at the Washington State Patrol, Lt. Gately served in the Field Operations Bureau (Bellevue) and Vessel and the Homeland Security Division (Seattle). At the City of Redmond, Lt. Gately has served as a Patrol Officer, Drug Recognition Expert, Public Information Officer, Detective, & Sergeant. His command assignments include oversight of daily operations, including Uniformed Patrol, Records, Evidence, Traffic, Canine, Outreach and Bicycle Units. He is an Associate member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and co-authored an article detailing Redmond’s commitment to combating regional fraud (Karen Lissy and Tim Gately, “Combating Financial Fraud and ID Theft through Regional Partnerships,” The Police Chief 80 (June 2013): 64-68.)

Captain Dennis Thornton has extensive experience in death investigations, interrogation techniques, ethics, and forensic evidence collection.

Captain Thornton is employed with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, which polices a substantial area of metropolitan New Orleans. He has been with the agency for thirty-five years and holds the rank of Captain and commands the Homicide Division. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in 2009.

Most of his experience focuses on investigating and supervising death investigations and various other violent crimes; however, he worked with local and federal officials, post-Hurricane Katrina, and oversaw the make-shift morgues and collection of the victim remains, in the entire metropolitan New Orleans area, following the 2005 tragedy.

Captain Thornton has been instructing in undergraduate and graduate courses in criminal justice since 2012. He graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a Bachelor of Criminal Justice degree in 1991. He later pursued graduate work, obtaining a Master of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University in 2010. His graduate research focused on Hispanic victimization both pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina in metropolitan New Orleans. Captain Thornton is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in Urban Studies with a concentration on poverty, crime and mental health at the University of New Orleans.

Captain Thornton is a member of several professional organizations, including American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and International Homicide Investigators Association (IHIA) and has lectured at a number of professional conferences on matters of forensics and death investigations.