Justice Studies
School of Arts and Sciences

The Justice Studies Dream Team

Andrew Wheeler, M.F.S.
Forensics Faculty
Mountain State University

Andrew Wheeler holds a Master of Forensic Science degree from The George Washington University and has over ten years of field experience in civil and criminal investigations.  He is qualified as an expert witness, and has testified in the fields of Blood Spatter and Firearms and Tool Marks. Mr. Wheeler received the prestigious “Professor of the Year” award given by the Mountain State University Student Government Association in 2005.

“Virtue is nothing else than right reason.”
Favorite quote, from Seneca

David Weaver
Forensics Faculty
Mountain State University

David Weaver is an expert in latent fingerprint identification, crime scene analysis, forensic photography, three-dimensional skull reconstruction from skeletal remains, and composite drawings from victim memories.  He has received the Governor’s Commendation from the State of Alaska and a Commendation from the Department of Immigration Naturalization Service.  He has presented technological seminars for the National Institute of Justice at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and presented new technology in a White House briefing at DEA Headquarters in Washington, DC.  Mr. Weaver has received a patent (U.S. Patent #5,348,759) for his Vapor Wand Technology; a fingerprint development technique.  He has recently filed a new patent on fingerprint development technology, which will substantially impact the ability to develop latent fingerprints at the crime scene with greater sensitivity and lower costs.

Nelson R. Staples IV, J.D.
Justice Studies Faculty
Mountain State University

Nelson R. Staples IV, J.D., earned his law degree from West Virginia University and has field experience in all three phases of police, courts, and corrections in Criminal Justice. He interned with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, the Cabell County Public Defender's Office, and worked as a federal corrections officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, receiving his training from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice and was presented the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005 by the Mountain State University Alumni Association. He is a multi-year honoree for Who's Who Among America's Teachers as well as a Commissioner on the Beckley Human Rights Commission. He is MSU's advisor to the Criminal Justice Honor Society and American Criminal Justice Association and the reigning ACJA Region 4 professional division champion in Corrections, Criminal Law and Physical Agility.

"Learn to do right; seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
-The Song of Solomon - Isaiah 1:17