Handwriting Analysis

CSI UMMC
 There are two types of
hand writing analysis
groups
Graphology study of how handwriting
reflects a persons personality and
character traits
Questioned Document Examiner or
Forensic Document Examiner
=determining whether a questioned
writing of unknown origin was authored
by a person whose known writings are
available
 Uses of Handwriting Analysis
► Determine identity of writer
 In ransom notes
 In document forgery
 In death threats
 In suicide notes
 Can you think of others?
Comparisons Are Useful Because
► No two people have identical handwriting
► By adulthood, it is exclusive to an individual
► Even disguised handwriting will exhibit
some of the person’s individual
characteristics
 Standard Comparisons
► Includesample to be analyzed called an
EXEMPLAR
► Samples from an individual include
 Collected writing comes from prior to the
beginning of the investigation (helps prevent or
indicate when a person is disguising their
handwriting)
 Requested writing is a dictated text using the
same type of paper
 Same type of ink as the sample to be analyzed
 Characteristics for Comparisons
► Line quality – Do the letters flow or are they written with
intent strokes?
► Spacing of words and letters – an average
► Ratio of height and width of letters
► Connecting strokes – Are capital letters and lower case
letters connected?
► Unusual letter formations
► Pen pressure
► Slant – Left, right, slight or pronounced
► Baseline habits – Do the letters stay even on the baseline?
► Placement of diacritics – How are the t’s crossed and the
I’s dotted?
 Magnification
► Often investigators will use copy machine to
magnify particular letters and subgroups
► This allows a transparency overlay for
individual features
► Can be tricky because scale must be
maintained
 Forensic Document Examiner
► The best thing to examine is something with the
same words as the document in question.
► An examiner may dictate to a potential suspect,
slowly then faster so that they have less chance of
disguising the handwriting.
► Use same ink and paper (as said before) pencil,
ballpoint pen, fountain pen, marker, etc.
 Forensic Document Examiner
► Listways a person may change or attempt
to disguise their handwriting
 Forensic Document Examiner
► Name items that you could get from a
potential suspects home to use for
handwriting identification.
 Forensic Document Examiner
► Handwritingoriginates in the brain when a
mental picture of letters and words is
formed. The signal to try to duplicate the
mental picture is sent to the arm and hand
through the muscles and nervous system.
The actual output is almost never an exact
match of the original mental picture.
 Forensic Document Examiner
Handwriting is distal, meaning that it occurs
at the extremities and involves fine motor
activity as opposed to a skill like walking
which is proximal - a large, or gross motor
skill. One reason individuals find it difficult
to simulate the handwriting of others is that
to do so successfully requires understanding
the essence of the writer's motor control
program and executing that same program.
 Forensic Document Examiner
► Some typical document examination questions
► Is the signature genuine?

► Is the document forged, and if so is it forged by a particular person?

► Is the same person the author of several documents?

► Did someone guide a person's hand as a will was signed?

► Did the doctor come back later and alter the medical records?

► Did the signer of the document also initial the changes?

► What is written under the crossed out portion of the writing?

► Was the document written on the date indicated?

 Forensic Document Examiner
► Some typical document examination questions
►
Are there erasures on the document?

► Are there alterations or obliterations on the document?

► What was originally written before the alteration or under the obliteration?

► Are there perforations, folds, staple holes, or other physical clues on the
document ?

► Was the entire document rewritten, or was it prepared sequentially, over a

period of time?
 Forensic Document
Examiner
FAQs
Can you describe an individual's
personality from examining
handwriting?

No, forensic document examination does not develop information

about personality. There is a separate field of study called
"Graphology" which deals with personality and handwriting.
 Forensic Document Examiner
FAQ

Can right or left handedness be

detected by examining
handwriting?

Contrary to popular belief, there are three things that can not be reliably
ascertained by examining handwriting. One of those is the "handedness" of
the writer. The other two things are the author's gender and age.
 Forensic Document
Examiner
FAQs
Can you compare printed writing
to cursive writing?
Rarely. Some writers style of writing is a mix of cursive and printed forms,
thereby allowing the examiner to carry out some level of examination on
either cursive or printed writing. There are also many factors other than letter
formation that enter into the examination and and analysis process. However,
it is generally accepted that the materials to be compared need to be written
in the same style: cursive to cursive, hand printing to hand printing, upper
case to upper case, lower case to lower case,
 Forensic Document
Examiner
FAQs
Can you examine documents in a
foreign language?

Yes, it is possible, but the examiner must first learn about the
characteristics of the written language and how that writing is taught
 Forensic Document
Examiner
FAQs
Can a document examiner work
with photocopies of questioned
documents?
This question must be answered on a case by case basis. If the copy
is of good quality, and if there is enough information in the writing to
allow an opinion, a copy can be sufficient. But there are some
situations where the opinion rests on a subtle aspect of the writing
that might only be visible on an original viewed under the microscope.
 Forensic Document
Examiner
FAQs
Can a client fax documents to you
for examination?

There is a wide range in reproduction quality of faxed documents.

Until recently a faxed document was of minimal use for comparison of
handwriting. The fax process could digitize the writing line, obscure
details, and add flaws to the document. A large number of fax
machines still produce poor quality documents. However, there are
now higher quality fax machines, and there is also a process of
electronic faxing in which a document is scanned and transmitted to a
virtual fax number through the internet
 Shredded Material Recovery
► The purpose of our work was to turn bags
of shredded documents like these...
 Shredded Material Recovery
► Into legible documents like these...
 Shredded Material Recovery
► Which involved separation of individual shreds
from the pile and re-assembling them piece by
piece.