Profile

Amy Watroba, Assistant State's Attorney

Illinois Forensic Science Commission

Contact Details

Illinois Forensic Science Commission

Bio

Amy Watroba is a career trial and appellate prosecutor who concentrates on litigating cases involving complex DNA and forensic science issues, providing legal support and training for attorneys, law enforcement officers, and scientists, and developing policies and procedures related to forensic evidence.

Ms. Watroba has prosecuted high-profile and serious felony jury and bench trials involving complex DNA (RFLP, PCR/STR, Y-STR, mtDNA, parentage), serology, microscopy, trace chemistry, firearms identification, blood stain pattern analysis, forensic pathology, historic cell tower analysis, and fingerprint evidence. She has litigated appeals in the Supreme Court of the United States, Illinois Supreme Court, and Illinois Appellate Court.

Ms. Watroba is a member of the National District Attorneys Association’s DNA Advisory Committee, four of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences’ Consensus Bodies, and the FBI's Rapid DNA Task Force. She instructs prosecutors from across the country for the NDAA, presents training programs for law enforcement agencies and forensic testing laboratories, and has served as a volunteer trial team coach and guest instructor for law school courses at several Chicago law schools. Ms. Watroba co-authored and edited the NDAA's recently-published Trial Advocacy Manual. In January, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker appointed Ms. Watroba to serve on the Governor's Task Force on Forensic Science, which was created to address DNA testing backlog issues in Illinois.