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Chapter 17

Document Examination

Introduction


Any object with handwriting or print whose source or authenticity is in doubt may be referred to as a questioned document. Document examiners apply knowledge gathered through years of training and experience to recognize and compare the individual characteristics of questioned and known authentic writings. For this purpose, the gathering of documents of known authorship or origin is critical to the outcome of the examination. The uniqueness of handwriting makes this type of physical evidence one of the few definitive individual characteristics available.
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Handwriting Theory
y Handwriting is just as unique as your

fingerprints. y Difference between fingerprint and handwriting y Fingerprints are permanent and do not change y Handwriting is a learning process and lends itself to change as a normal process
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The Learning Process


y Child is taught using the model of alphabet y Manuscript Writing y Cursive Writing
y Child does not have handwriting of his own because

he is creating an artistic representation

y Child gets better at remembering letter

formations and now draws them from memory


y This is where variations and deviations come from and

he/she begins their own handwriting.

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The Learning Process


y Its not until individual characteristics

become habitual and repetitious that handwriting has become mature. y When the person can write as a subconscious act. y This is where we can make the comparison from fingerprint to handwriting. y Just as there are no 2 fingerprints the same, handwriting is also unique.
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Character of Handwriting


Document experts continually testify to the fact that no two individuals write exactly alike. Many factors comprise the total character of a person s writing. The early stages of learning handwriting are characterized by a conscious effort to copy standard letter forms. However, as writing skills improve, nerve and motor responses associated with the act of writing become subconscious. The unconscious handwriting of two different individuals can never be identical.
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Character of Handwriting


Variations are expected in angularity, slope, speed, pressure, letter and word spacing, relative dimensions of letters, connections, pen movement, writing skill, and finger dexterity.


These are called natural variations. An individual s signature will never be totally identical each time he/she signs his/her name. If two signatures are totally identical, this would indicate a forgery by tracing the signature.

Other factors to consider include the arrangement of the writing on the paper, such as margins, spacing, crowding, insertions, and alignment. Spelling, punctuation, phraseology, and grammar can be personal and help to individualize the writer. Furthermore, the writing style of one individual may be altered beyond recognition by the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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Letter written by Albert Einstein in German

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Bill Clinton letter

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Character of Handwriting


No single handwriting characteristic can in itself be taken as the basis for a positive comparison. The final conclusion must be based on a sufficient number of common characteristics between the known and questioned writing samples. There are no hard and fast rules for a sufficient number of personal characteristics; it is a judgment call made by the expert examiner in the context of each case.
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Class Characteristic in Handwriting


y Class Characteristics are similarities

between individuals who learned the same type of writing systems. y Serve just to narrow down the search when comparing a questioned document to standard writing systems. y Handwriting systems: Palmer, ZanerBloser, and Spencerian
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Individual Characteristics
y These are characteristics that are true only

to a specific writer. y It is a combination of individual characteristics that make handwriting unique to him/her.

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Types of Individual Characteristics


y Skill Level y Slant y Form y Movement y Proportions y Height y I Dot y t Crossing y Loops y Pressure
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y Baseline Alignment y Pen Lifts y Speed y Embellishments y Entry/Exit Strokes y Retracing y Spelling/Spacing y Format y Case

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Skill level
y The way a writing looks. y Important characteristic of identification or

non-identification. y High skill level VS Low skill level

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High Skill Level

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Low Skill Level

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Slant
y This is the angle of writing and can be

forward or backward. y This alone is not a good basis for judgment. y Forwards and backward slants are not indicative to handedness.

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Form
y Most basic individual characteristic and is very

important to QDE. y Form is the way a writer makes a letter or movement of letters.

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Movement and Pressure


y Movement is the way a pen moves in order to

make a mark or form a letter y This can help distinguish the difference in form. 2 letters can be the same, but made in a different way. y Pressure is the difference in ink or pencil in width or shade. Helps show direction of movement.

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Proportions, Height, & Loops is the y Proportions


symmetry of an individual letter y Loops are similar to proportions y Height is the comparing the height of one letter to another y Height, proportions are usually habits found in a specific writer.
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The I dot and t crossing

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Baseline Alignment
y The value of this show the questioned writing in

correlation to the baseline y Helps QDE examiners determine whether the writing was altered or is consistent with the rest of the writing or other examples

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Speed
y The speed of a writer is a key indicator for QDE

in the examination process. y Fast and slow speeds are difficult to duplicate leaving behind inconsistencies in the writing.

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Handwriting Exemplars


The collection of an adequate number of known writings (exemplars) is most critical for determining the outcome of a handwriting comparison. Known writing should contain some of the words and combination of letters present in the questioned document and be adequate in number to show the range of natural variations in a suspect s writing. The writing implement and paper should also be alike. The writing of dictation and several pages may serve to minimize attempts at deception.
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Typewriters and Printing Devices




The two requests most often made of the examiner in connection with the examination of typewriters and printing devices are:


whether the make and model of the typewriter and printing devices used to prepare the questioned document can be identified. whether a particular suspect typewriter or printing device can be identified as having prepared the questioned document.

In order to do this, the individual type character s style, shape, and size are compared to a complete reference collection of past and present typefaces.
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Questioned Documents

Machine Analysis


Typewriters/printers can leave individual markings Can be class characteristics or individual characteristics
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Characteristics From Use




As is true for any mechanical device, use of a printing device will result in wear and damage to the machine s moving parts. These changes will occur in a fashion that is both random and irregular, thereby imparting individual characteristics to the printing device. The document examiner has to deal with problems involving business and personal computers, which often produce typed copies that have only subtle defects. Another area of investigation relates to the typewriter ribbon, which may contain type impressions.
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Digital Technology


In the cases of photocopiers, fax machines, and computer printers an examiner may be called on to identify the make and model of a machine or to compare a questioned document with test samples from a suspect machine. A side by side comparison is made between the questioned document and the printed exemplars to compare markings produced by the machine. Examiners compare transitory defect marks, fax machine headers, toner, toner application methods, and mechanical and printing characteristics.
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Alterations
 

Document examiners must deal with evidence that has been changed in several ways, such as through alterations, erasures, and obliterations. Erasures by rubber erasers, sandpaper, razor blade or knife to remove writing or typing disturb the fibers of the paper and are readily apparent when examined with a microscope. If an alteration is made to a document with ink differing form the original, it can sometimes be detected due to differences in the luminescence properties of the inks. Obliteration of writing by overwriting or crossing out to hide the original writing can be revealed by infrared radiation, which may pass through the upper layer of writing while being absorbed by the underlying area.
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Ink Analysis (alterations)


Alternative lighting may indicate alterations with different ink.

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Ink Analysis (alterations)


Alternative lighting may indicate alterations with different ink.

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A special instrument for document examination is a UV/IR spectral comparator which makes use of electromagnetic wavelengths and various filters to differentiate inks and reveal hidden material on documents.

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Other Problems


Infrared photography and reflecting light at different angles are sometimes successfully used to reveal the contents of a document that has been accidentally or purposely charred in a fire. In certain situations, indented writings (partially visible depressions underneath the visible writing) have proved to be valuable evidence. It may be possible to determine what was written by the impressions left on a paper pad. Applying an electrostatic charge to the surface of a polymer film placed in contact with a questioned document will visualize indented writings.

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Alterations
y Overwriting y Erasures y Crossing out of words (most obvious) y Must be recognized and characterized y These are efforts intended to alter or

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obscure the meaning of the document in question y Must be able to reconstruct the written contents of charred or burned paper y Uncover the meaning of indented writings found on a paper pad after 38 the removal of the top sheet

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Ink and Paper Comparisons




A study of the chemical composition of the ink used on documents may verify whether or not known and questioned documents were prepared by the same pen; and the paper itself may be analyzed. A nondestructive approach to comparing ink lines is accomplished with a visible-light microspectrophotometer. Thin-layer chromatography is also suitable for ink comparisons.
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Ink Analysis (matching pens, etc.)




An ink will have specific chemical components. The same ink can be used in many pens. (even different brands)
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Ink Analysis (matching pens, etc.)




Look at under alternative light (different wavelengths) UV and Infrared light Glow, Transparent, Nothing

 

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Ink Analysis (matching pens, etc.)




Look at under alternative light (different wavelengths) UV and Infrared light Glow, Transparent, Nothing

 

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Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)


   

Place punch of ink in solvent Drop on paper (stationary phase) Put in liquid (mobile phase) Liquid travels up paper; separates components of ink

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Thin Layer Chromatography

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Testimony of Document Examiners


y Has been accepted in courts for 100 years y 1989: article challenged the use of expert

handwriting testimony y United States v. Starzecpyzel (1995): court ruled that document examiners provide technical (not scientific) testimony y 1997: study found that trained document examiners were more proficient than nonexperts y United States v. Paul (1999): upheld the use of expert handwriting testimony and the exclusion of the testimony of a person without specific training in document examination
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