CHAPTER 16 HANDWRITING & DOCUMENT ANALYSIS

1. Historical datingthe verification of age

and value of a document or object
2. Fraud investigationfocuses on the
money trail and criminal intent
3. Paper and ink specialistsdate, type,
source, and/or catalog various types of
paper, watermarks, ink, printing/copy/fax
machines, computer cartridges
4. Forgery specialistsanalyze altered,
obliterated, changed, or doctored
documents and photos
5. Typewriting analystsdetermine origin,
make, and model
6. Computer crime investigators
investigate cybercrime
Document Examination
1. Forensic document examination involves the analysis and
comparison of questioned documents with known material in
order to identify whenever possible, the author or origin of the
questioned document.
Handwriting
Handwriting analysis involves two
phases:
1. The hardwareink, paper, pens,
pencils, typewriter, printers
2. Visual examination of the writing
Handwriting Characteristics
1. Line quality
2. Word and letter spacing
3. Letter comparison
4. Pen lifts
5. Connecting strokes
6. Beginning and ending strokes
7. Unusual letter formation
8. Shading or pen pressure
9. Slant
10. Baseline habits
11. Flourishes or embellishments
12. Diacritic placement
Handwriting Identification
1. Analysis of the known writing with a determination of the
characteristics found in the known
2. Analysis of the questioned or unknown writing and
determination of its characteristics
3. Comparison of the questioned writing with the known writing
4. Evaluation of the evidence, including the similarities and
dissimilarities between the questioned and known writing
5. The document examiner must have enough exemplars to make
a determination of whether or not the two samples match.
Handwriting Samples
1. The subject should not be shown the
questioned document.
2. The subject is not told how to spell words or use
punctuation.
3. The subject should use materials similar to
those of the document.
4. The dictated text should match some parts of
the document.
5. The subject should be asked to sign the text.
6. Always have a witness.
Hand writing: Individual or Class evidence?
1. Class Characteristics:
Features and dimensions of letters.
Connection of letters to each other
Capitalization
Punctuation
2. Individual Characteristics:
Unique features of letters.
Is the letter O open or closed
Is the nwritten with a pointed tip

**Handwriting samples change about every seven

years**
Basic characteristics for comparing Handwriting
1. Overall Form
The size, shape, slant, and strokes of the
letters
2. Line Features
Writing speed, pen pressure, spacing
between letters and words and how the letters
are connected.
3. Margins and Format
4. Content
Grammar, punctuation and word
choice
Handwriting Analysis on a piece of
loose leaf, copy the following
passage. 2 minutes.
Writing is a form of expression and neat
handwriting is important when writing
anything that will be read by someone
else. We are often judged by the
quality of our handwriting and when our
penmanship is poor we appear to be
lazy or incompetent.
Handwriting Analysis
Look through the 5 indicator results (Emotional
Indicators, Goals, Self-Image, Social Skills,
Attitude)
Match your score with the profile
Do you agree with all of the results??

After looking at all of your results, write a brief

reaction (quick write). Do you agree with the
analysis? Do you think this form of analysis is
useful? Explain. To be handed in.
Methods of Forgery
1. Simulated forgery
one made by copying a
genuine signature

2. Traced forgeryone
made by tracing a
genuine signature

3. Blind forgeryone
made without a model of
the signature
Types of Forgery
1. Check fraud
Forgery
Counterfeit
Alterations
2. Paper money
Counterfeit
3. Identity
Social Security
Drivers license
1. Credit cards
Theft of card or
number
2. Artimitation with
intent to deceive
Microscopic
examination
Electromagnetic
radiation
Chemical analysis
3. Contracts
alterations of
contracts, medical
records
Document Alterations
1. Obliterationsremoval of writing by
physical or chemical means can be
detected by:
Microscopic examination
UV or infrared (IR) light
Digital image processing

2. Indentations can be detected by:

Oblique lighting
Electrostatic detection apparatus
(ESDA)
http://player.vimeo.com/video/22036
861?
http://player.vimeo.com/video/22036
153
Famous Forgers and Forgeries
1. Major George Byron (Lord
Byron forgeries)
2. Thomas Chatterton
(literary forgeries)
3. John Payne Collier
(printed forgeries)
4. Dorman David (Texas
Declaration of
Independence)
5. Mark Hofmann (Mormon,
Freemason forgeries)
6. William Henry Ireland
(Shakespeare forgeries)
7. Clifford Irving (Howard
Hughes forgery)
8. Konrad Kujau (Hitler
diaries)
9. James Macpherson
(Ossian manuscript)
10. George Psalmanasar
(literary forgery)
11. Alexander Howland
Smith (historical
documents)
Forensic Linguist
1. Expert who looks at the
linguistic content (the way
something is written) of a
questioned document

2. Language that is used can

help to establish the
writers age, gender,
ethnicity, level of education,
professional training, and
ideology.

3. http://youtu.be/4z6Krsjwc84

4. http://youtu.be/Dy4fYa-NZP
k
Ink
1. Chromatography is a method
of physically separating the
components of inks.
2. Types
HPLChigh-performance
liquid chromatography
TLCthin-layer
chromatography
Paper chromatography
Paper Chromatography of Ink
Two samples of black ink from two different manufacturers have
been characterized using paper chromatography.
Retention Factor (R f)
1. A number that
represents how far a
compound travels in a
particular solvent
2. It is determined by
measuring the distance
the compound traveled
and dividing it by the
distance the solvent
traveled.

18
Paper
Differences
1. Raw material
2. Weight
3. Density
4. Thickness
5. Color
6. Watermarks
7. Age
8. Fluorescence
Pencils

1. Lead
2. Hardness scale
a traditional measure of
the hardness of the
leads (actually made of
graphite) in pencils.
The hardness scale,
from softer to harder,
takes the form ..., 3B,
2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H,
4H, ..., with the standard
number 2 pencil being
of hardness 2H.
Evidence
1. Class characteristics may
include:
1. general types of pens
2. pencils
3. paper.
2. Individual characteristics may
include:
1. unique, individual
handwriting characteristics
2. trash marks from copiers
3. printer serial numbers.
There are 5 things that differ in
these pictures!
Can you find them all?
A

B
Spot the Counterfeit
Spot the Counterfeit
Spot the Counterfeit (same 2 bills)
Counterfeiting
1. In 1996 the government
starting adding new security
features to our paper money
due to the advanced copying
technologies that have raised
the incidence of counterfeiting.
2. The $20 bill entered circulation
on October of 2003, followed
by the $50 in September of
2004, and then the $10 in
September of 2005.
3. Subtle background colors have
been added along with other
features to discourage
counterfeiting.
Know Your Money
Internet Crimes

1. Computer intrusions
2. Identity theft
3. Transmission of illegal items
4. Extortion and harassment
5. Piracy
6. Cyberterrorism
 More about Document Analysis

For additional information about

document and handwriting
analysis, check out truTVs
Crime Library at:

www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_
mind/forensics/literary/1.htm

Or learn about forgery cases at:

www.crimelibrary.com/crimin
al_mind/scams/lincoln_forge
rs/index.html