Nature and Scope of Questioned Document Examination

1. Nature and Scope of
Questioned Document
Examination
PALLAVI KUMARI

2. Document?
• A document can be anything like
• Paper
• Wall
• Leaf
• Glass/mirror
• Stone
on which some mark, sign, picture or script is
written, engraved or embossed that convey some
message.
For example: Pyramids of Egypt.

3. QUETSIONED DOCUMENTS
• Any document who is under scrutiny or whose
genuineness is under doubt or authorship is
challenged.
• Document can be challenged under various
conditions like
• Signatures
• Handwriting
• Paper/ink etc.

4. Common Questioned Documents
• Checks
• Certificates
• Wills
• Passports
• Licenses
• Money
• Letters
• Contracts
• Suicide Notes
• Receipts
• Even Lottery Tickets
• Medical prescriptions
• Demand drafts
• Scanned documents
• Shredded documents
• Anonymous letter
• Visas
• Law deeds
• Property papers
• Bus/railway/air tickets
• Bus/railway passes
• Seal and stamps
• Typewritten documents
• Printed documents
• Burned documents
• Extortion notes
• Fax documents

5. Document Analysis
• Document Analysis is the examination and
comparison of questioned documents with known
material.
– signature,
– handwriting,
– typewriting, or other written mark whose source or
authenticity is in dispute or uncertain
• Experts establish the authenticity of documents
and detect any changes, erasures, or obliterations
that may have occurred
– Obliteration- writing over top to smear or make orginal
writing unreadable

6. Handwriting Analysis
• Like Fingerprints, every person’s handwriting
is unique and personalized
• Handwriting is difficult to disguise or forge
– Good tool for including or excluding persons when
determining a match with an exemplar
• Questioned documents are compared to
exemplars to determine matches
– Exemplars- prewritten handwriting samples from
a suspect(s)

7. Introduction to Handwriting
• Everyone’s handwriting exhibits natural
variation
– Writing instruments- pen, pencil, marker ect…
– Mood, age, hurried
• Brain does writing- methods of writing
become subconscious
– Adults show little variation

8. Handwriting Examination
1. Two writings came from one person if:
– their similarities are unique and
– no unexplainable difference(s) are found
2. Examine the questionable document for
detectable traits and record them
3. Obtain a known sample of the suspect’s writing
(an exemplar)
4. Compare and draw conclusions about the
authorship of the questionable document

9. Handwriting Analysis
o Evidence in the Courtroom
• Expert explains how comparisons were made
• Cross-examination by defense attorney may follow
• Must be able to justify and defense usually has their
own expert witness to try to refute
o Shortcomings in Analysis
• Are the base documents real or fake?
• Did mood, age, fatigue impact the handwriting?
• Did experts miss details any details?

10. Forgery and Fraudulence (Fraud)
• Forgery- making, altering, or falsifying a
person’s signature or any other aspect of a
document with the intent to deceive another
– Forged documents include:
• checks
• employment records
• legal agreements
• licenses
• wills
• Fraudulence—forgery for material gain

11. Check Forgery
• Check forgery can include:
– ordering another’s checks from a deposit slip
– altering a check
– intercepting another’s check, altering, and
cashing it
– creating a check from scratch

12. Preventing Check Forgery
• Chemically sensitive paper
• Large font size requires more ink and makes
alterations more difficult
• High resolution borders that are difficult to copy
• Multiple color patterns on paper
• Embed fibers that glow under different light
• Use chemical wash detection systems that
change color when a check is altered

13. Counterfeiting
o Counterfeiting- When false documents or other
items are copied for the purpose of deception
o A criminal activity existing since antiquity
o Items commonly forged today include:
• Currency
• Traveler’s checks
• Food stamps
• Certain bonds
• Postage stamps

14. Currency
• Security features are added to paper currency
that scanning cannot reproduce
• Regular printer paper contains starch.
• Paper currency contains rag fiber instead of
starch.
• People usually first suspect money as fake
because its texture does not feel right