Joey Timpone

Robert Phillips

Attorney at Law
Deputy District Attorney (Ret.)
"From the DA's Desk"
Founding member & Chief Author

Robert Phillips, a retired state criminal prosecutor with almost thirty years’ experience and a former police officer, has been researching and writing legal briefs for decades. He focused on reviewing new case decisions during the last thirteen years of his work with the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and has continued to do so since retiring in 2007.

Specializing in California and federal law, Mr. Phillips is an expert on Fourth (Search and Seizure), Fifth (Miranda / Self-Incrimination Law) and Sixth (Right to Counsel) Amendment issues. He has also authored numerous articles and short legal synopses on other criminal law and/or procedure topics.

Mr. Phillips’ reports and analyses have been used by courts, prosecutors, judges, chiefs, and sheriffs throughout California. He has been a valuable resource to the California Commission on P.O.S.T. and a contributing author for the California District Attorneys Association “Did You Know” and “Prosecutor’s Brief.”

Raymond “Ray” Hill

Professor Emeritus
Police Lieutenant (Ret.)
Police Academy Instructor
"From the Classrooom"

Ray Hill is a retired Novato Police Lieutenant and holds the position of Professor Emeritus at Santa Rosa Junior College. He has taught Laws of Evidence, Laws of Arrest and Search & Seizure in the POST Basic Law Enforcement Course and in Advanced Officer Training – Legal Update for North Bay officers for 48 years. He is the author of the California Criminal Evidence Guide: A Handbook for the Criminal Justice Student, a textbook adopted in California community college Administration of Justice courses statewide since 1988.

Ray also retired as a Firefighter/EMT with the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District and Firefighter/Administrative Support for the Sonoma County Fire District, where he served for over 20 years.

Ray lives in Bodega Bay and enjoys time with his chocolate Labradors (Mags and Abby), working on his family’s 115-year-old Marin County ranch and steelhead / chinook fishing on Oregon Rivers.

Randy Seymour

Director of Law Enforcement Training
Retired Sergeant
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
Detective - Homicide Bureau

P.O.S.T. Master Instructor- Currently teaching/facilitating for Government Training Agency "GTA" in their Officer Involved Shooting course.

Sergeant Seymour served 25 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. His assignments included Custody, Patrol, Specialized Gang Patrol, Street Gang Detective (Operation Safe Streets), Patrol Sergeant, and Homicide Investigator. He holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from National University and has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Navarro Community College. He has also been a guest speaker at numerous colleges and universities in California, Texas, and Arizona.

In addition, he has over 20 years of experience teaching at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Academy and the Navarro Community College Police Academy. He is the co-author of Criminal Investigation: An Illustrated Case Study Approach (Pearson Publishing).

Sergeant Seymour served as lead investigator in approximately 100 homicide cases, including those involving stabbings, shootings, blunt force trauma, strangulation, rape, and poisoning. He also assisted in over 100 additional homicide investigations. Furthermore, he led investigations into more than 30 officer-involved shootings and supported over 30 additional such cases.

He has testified as a gang expert in more than 30 trials involving Black, Hispanic, Samoan, and Filipino street gangs in both Superior and Federal Courts in Los Angeles County, as well as in Washington, D.C.

Sergeant Seymour has taught courses on homicide, crime scene investigation, suicide, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and gang-related homicide to local law enforcement personnel and officers from across the country.

Veronica Seymour

Manager of Customer Fulfillment
Retired Sergeant
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Veronica retired as a Sergeant with nearly 20 years of experience with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Her assignments included Custody, Custody Training, Patrol, Personnel, Patrol Sergeant, and Court Services Sergeant. Her law enforcement background, combined with a strong reputation for attention to detail and follow-through, makes her a valuable resource.

Public Information Officer & Director of Marketing

Joey Timpone is the Public Information Officer and Marketing Director for Legal Updates. Mr. Timpone oversees content creation, production, and media relations for the organization.

In addition to his role at Legal Updates, Mr. Timpone serves as the Assistant Public Information Officer and Content Creator for the Modesto Police Department. He manages the department's social media platforms, produces marketing materials, and serves as the public face of the agency. Over the past year, Mr. Timpone has gained recognition for his 60 Second Scoop series, which provides monthly updates to the department’s followers. He is a member of the Innovation & Branding Committee, responsible for various community outreach initiatives. Mr. Timpone also designed and facilitated the department's first Youth Academy in 2022 and specializes in social media marketing and business growth.

Prior to joining the Media Relations Unit, Mr. Timpone served as a Police Explorer with the Modesto Police Department for four years. He was promoted through the ranks of Sergeant and Lieutenant, ultimately serving as Captain of the post for two years. During this time, he implemented a new Explorer Field Training Program, launched a Burglary Prevention Patrol, and established an Explorer Recruitment Unit.

Mr. Timpone also owns a photography business that has served California’s Central Valley since 2016. He has worked as the team photographer for both local and travel sports organizations. In high school, he served as photo editor for the school newspaper, lead designer and photographer for the yearbook, and received the Excellent Yearbook Theme Design Award. His yearbook team also ranked in the top 10 nationwide and earned the Silver Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for their 2019 publication.

We are proud to have Mr. Timpone as part of our team!

Scotti England

Accounting Department Chief Financial Officer

Ms. England has over 30 years of experience in case and law office management, primarily in family law.

She earned her B.A. in Business Management from St. Mary's College in Moraga. She later attended law school but chose not to pursue a legal degree. She currently works for a family law firm in Santa Rosa, in addition to her role at Legal Updates.

Ms. England also founded and operates a boutique skincare company, where she creates and sells her own products. In her downtime, she enjoys playing golf and serves as Treasurer of her women’s club golf league. She has a strong interest in finance and is the President of an investment club.

We are proud to have Ms. England as part of our team!

William H. Roof Ph.D.

Director of MCLE Training
Retired Agent, NCIS

Dr. Roof has extensive experience in law enforcement, national defense, and healthcare technology, including a distinguished 30-year military career in both the U.S. Army and Navy, serving in active and reserve roles.

Dr. Roof was part of a small, elite group of Naval Intelligence Officers trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and credentialed as Agents with the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). His law enforcement background includes criminal investigations, human intelligence missions, risk analysis, global force protection, and protective services.

Dr. Roof's military leadership is equally notable. Over the course of his 30-year career in the Army and Navy, he retired with the rank of Captain (Intelligence) in the U.S. Navy and was selected for command on four separate occasions. As a credentialed NCIS Agent, Captain Roof was mobilized to active duty immediately following the 9/11 attacks and served for two years as Officer-in-Charge of more than 100 NCIS Agents assigned to worldwide counterterrorism and counterintelligence missions. In this role, he reported directly to the Director of NCIS. He is a veteran of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, having served on the ground in the Middle East in 2001, 2002, and 2003. He has also served as a military advisor to the United Nations.

As President and CEO of a publicly traded software company specializing in fraud prevention and law enforcement information technology, Dr. Roof successfully led the company through membership processes with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS). The identity authentication software developed by his company is currently used by law enforcement agencies and financial institutions nationwide.

Dr. Roof's career also includes significant experience in training and education. He was selected to serve as Commanding Officer of the Fleet Intelligence Training Center Pacific and the Joint Intelligence Training Activity Pacific. In this role, he "trained the trainers," oversaw curriculum development, and led mobile training teams to international locations, including South Korea.

Most recently, Dr. Roof stepped in to substitute for an ill professor, preparing weekly lessons and teaching Software Engineering to graduate students at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Lori Carter

Senior Content Editor Journalist, Writer & Researcher

Lori is a longtime journalist, writer and researcher in Arizona and California, and for 23 years was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning staff of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the largest California newspaper north of San Francisco. Her areas of expertise included public safety, the justice system, government and various other topics. She brings years of content production, editing skills and a discerning eye to her position as Senior Content Editor with Legal Updates.

In her time as a journalist, Lori covered stories as varied as: a seven-victim mass shooting involving a police officer, the death penalty-insanity trial of Yosemite murderer Cary Stayner, the Golden State Warriors championship runs, the mysterious case of a man who killed himself with a homemade guillotine – and once she even wrote a lighter story in the style of Dr. Seuss.

Outside work, Lori enjoys playing softball and soccer, traveling the world, reading, gardening, cooking, and is planning to retire to Italy one day.