Forensic science disputed documents

1. FORENSIC SCIENCE
DISPUTED DOCUMENTS
Ms. SREE LEKSHMI B
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
VELS SCHOOL OF LAW

2. Questioned material may consist of;
 Identification cards
 Contract, wills, titles and deeds
 Seals, stamps, bank checks, handwritten correspondence
 Machine-generated documents (such as those from photocopiers, fax machines,
and printers)
 Currency and electronic documents.

3. Questioned document examination (QDE) is a forensic science discipline
pertaining to documents that are potentially disputed in a court of law.
The examination's primary purpose is to provide evidence about suspicious or
questioned documents using a variety of scientific principles and methods.
Disputed document/Questioned document can be used interchangeably to signify
a document that is under special scrutiny.
Disputed document suggesting that there is an argument or controversy over a
document.

4. • For example: a suicide note bearing a handwritten or typewritten text and a forged
will, both can both be considered as a questioned document.
• Forensic Document Examiners define a ‘questioned document’ as any material
that contains marks, symbols or signs intended to communicate a message.

5. The forensic document examiner makes scientific examinations, comparisons, and
analyses of documents in order to:
1. Establish genuineness or non-genuineness,
2. Reveal alterations, additions, or deletions,
3. Identify or eliminate persons as the source of handwriting,
4. Identify or eliminate the source of machine produced documents,
5. Visualize other impressions, marks, or relevant evidence of any kind, and
6. Write reports and give testimony.
Other problems may involve the decipherment, restoration, or enhancement of
obscured, deleted, or damaged parts of documents.

6. ANONYMOUS LETTERS
• An anonymous letters is without any name acknowledged, as that of author,
contributor or may be the letter sent from the unknown person without any name.
• If however, the letter is indecent, threatening, or in any way likely to cause a
breach of the peace, then the writer puts himself in peril of legal proceedings.
Whilst many cases are dealt with as civil offences, writers of blackmailing,
threatening and criminally libelous letters come within the ambit of the criminal
law and are liable to long sentence of imprisonment.
• If anonymous letters are of threatening or blackmailing character, strenuous efforts
are made to detect the offender wherever the offence takes place.

7. • Father of Questioned Documents
• 1910 - Albert Sherman Osborn - “Questioned Documents”
• Focus on not only the examination of handwriting and signatures, but
of other types of evidence appearing on documents including paper,
ink, typewriting and alterations.

8. Classes of Questioned Documents
1. Documents with questioned signatures.
• Any one of the ordinary commercial or legal papers such as a check, note,
receipt, draft, order, contract, assignment, will, deed, or similar paper.
• The signature of which is under suspicion.
• In this class are found
• the traced forgery
• the forgery produced by the simulating or copying process.

9. 2. Documents containing alleged fraudulent alterations
• all those in which it is alleged some alteration has been made by
• erasure, addition, interlineation or substitution by reason of which the
effect or value of the document is materially changed.
• In connection with this class of documents questions may arise regarding:
• The order or sequence of writing as shown by crossed lines
• Age of writing
• Continuity of writing
• Erasures and changes

10. • Identity of ink
• Identity of pen
• Pen condition
• Under certain conditions, the question may arise whether writing preceded or
followed the folding of the paper.
This important class of questioned documents also includes all varieties of "raised"
checks, drafts and notes as well as fraudulent interlineations in contracts, deeds, wills
and other legal papers.

11. 3. Holograph documents questioned or disputed.
• Watermarks
• Seals
• Tickets of many kinds are frequently forged or counterfeited
• Rare stamps
• Valuable manuscripts
• Certificates
• Letters of introduction and recommendation
• Diplomas
• Marriage certificates, marriage contracts
• Court papers
• Autographs and letters of famous people.

12. 4. Documents attacked on the question of their age or date.
• In which the age of an instrument or the age of some part of it is investigated.
• A paper in which the comparative age of different parts may have some bearing on
the question of its genuineness.
• Purport to be ancient documents of great importance.
• It is usually claimed, were found in some strange place or under peculiar conditions

13. 5. Documents attacked on the question of materials used in their production
• Documents have frequently been shown to be false because they were dated
many years before the paper was made on which they were written.
• Type printed forms
• Lithographed forms
• Typewriting
• Seals
• Envelopes
• Stamps, or any tangible thing that may have a date value.

14. 6. Documents investigated on the question of typewriting
• With a view to ascertaining their source.
• With a view to determining their date.

15. 7. Documents or writings investigated because they identify some person
through handwriting
a) Anonymous and disputed letters.
• All documents, papers, writings or instruments which by their handwriting
and contents tend to identify some person
b) Registrations and miscellaneous writings.