documents_ppt-forgery.ppt for reference of students

Document and Handwriting
Analysis
“The handwriting on the wall
may be a forgery”
—Ralph Hodgson, British poet

Chapter 15 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 1
Questioned Documents
 Involves the examination of
handwriting, ink, paper, etc. to
ascertain source or authenticity
 Examples include letters, checks,
licenses, contracts, wills, passports
 Investigations include: verification,
authentication, characterizing papers,
pigments, and inks

Related Fields
 Historical Dating—the verification of age and value of a
document or object
 Fraud Investigation—focuses on the money trail and
criminal intent
 Paper and Ink Specialists—date, type, source, and/or
catalogue various types of paper, watermarks, ink,
printing/copy/fax machines, computer cartridges
 Forgery Specialists—analyze altered, obliterated,
changed, or doctored documents and photos
 Typewriting Analysts—determine origin, make, and
models
 Computer Crime Investigators—investigate cybercrime

3
History of Forensic Handwriting Analysis
 1930s—handwriting analysis played a role in
the famous Lindbergh case.
 1999—the US Court of Appeals determined
that handwriting analysis qualifies as a form
of expert testimony
 To be admissible in court, scientifically
accepted guidelines must be followed
 Scotland Yard, the FBI, and the Secret
Service use handwriting analysis

Document Examination
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 sample legality
Doesn’t violate the 5th amendment
Right not to self-incriminate
Doesn’t violate the 4th amendment
Protections against unreasonable search and
seizure

Handwriting
Handwriting analysis involves two
phases:
 The hardware—ink, paper, pens, pencils,
typewriter, printers
 Visual examination of the writing

The 12 Handwriting
Characteristics (#1-6)
1. Line Quality –are letters erratic or shaky
2. Word and Letter Spacing – spaced or crowded
3. Size consistency – compares ratio of height to width
4. Continuous - pen lifts or continuous writing
5. Connecting letters – are capitals and lower-case
letters connected and continuous
6. Letters complete – are letters fully written or partially

The 12 Handwriting
Characteristics (#7-12)
7. Cursive/Printed – cursive printed or both (when)
8. Pen Pressure – equal ^ and V strokes
9. Slant – left, right, variable, no slant?
10. Line Habits – above line, below line, on line?
11. Flourishes or Embellishments – fancy curls?
12. Diacritic Placement – correct, misplaced, t’s
crossed towards top/bottom, i’s dotted? Dotted to
the right/left/centered?

COMPARING HANDWRITING
Overall form
Size, shape, slant, proportion,and beginning and
ending strokes of the letters
Line features
Writing speed, fluidity, pen pressure, spacing between
letters & words, and how letters are connected
Margins and Format
Width of margins
Content
Grammar, punctuation, word choice, repeated phrases

Handwriting Identification
 Analysis of the “knowns” with a determination of the
characteristics found in the known
 Analysis of the questioned or unknown writing and
determination of its characteristics
 Comparison of the questioned writing with the known writing.
 Evaluation of the evidence, including the similarities and
dissimilarities between the “questioned” and “known” writing
 The document examiner must have enough exemplars to
make a determination of whether or not the two samples
match.

11
Technology Used in
Handwriting Analysis
 Biometric Signature Pads
 “Learns” to recognize how a person signs
 Evaluates speed, pressure, and rhythm of the
signature
 Recognizes forgeries by the detection of even
slight differences
 Computerized Analysis
 Compares handwriting samples objectively
 Compared with samples stored in databases

Forensic Science: Fundamentals & Investigations, Chapter 10
12
Handwriting
Evidence in the Courtroom
Expert explains how comparisons were made
Cross-examination by defense attorney may
follow
Shortcomings in Analysis
Are the base documents real or fake?
Did mood, age, fatigue impact the handwriting?
Did experts miss details any details?

FORGERY
FORGERY = Items prepared with
intent to deceive.
Forged documents include:
checks
employment records
legal agreements
licenses
wills
Fraudulence—forgery for material gain

Handwriting Samples
 The tested subject should:
 not be shown the questioned
document
 not be told how to spell words or use
punctuation
 use materials similar to those used in
the original document
 be asked to sign the text
 always have a witness

Methods of Forgery
 Simulated forgery—one made by
copying a genuine signature
 Traced forgery—one made by
tracing a genuine signature
 Blind forgery—made without a
model of the signature

Types of Forgery
 Check Fraud
 Forgery
 Counterfeit
 Alterations
 Paper Money
 Counterfeit
 Identity
 Social Security
 Driver’s license
 Credit Cards
 Theft of card or number
 Art—imitation with intent to
deceive
 Microscopic examination
 Electromagnetic radiation
 Chemical analysis
 Contracts—alterations of
contracts, medical records

Document Alterations
 Obliterations—removal of writing by
physical or chemical means can be
detected by:
 Microscopic examination
 UV or infrared (IR) light
 Digital image processing
 Indentations can be detected by:
 Oblique lighting
 Electrostatic detection apparatus (ESDA)

Forensic Linguist
 Experts that look at the linguistic
content (the way something is written)
of a questioned document.
 Language that is used can help to
establish the writer’s age, gender,
ethnicity, level of education,
professional training, and ideology.

Graphology
Junk science that determines
personality based on characteristics
of handwriting
You will read an article about the
Jon Benet Ramsey case and the
graphology of the ransom note
found at the crime scene

Ink
Chromatography is a method
of physically separating the
components of inks
Types
 HPLC—high-performance liquid
chromatography
 TLC—thin-layer chromatography
 Paper Chromatography

3 FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN
ANALYZING INK
CHROMATOGRAPHY
1. SOLVENT
2. INK
3. PAPER

Paper
Differences
 Raw material
 Weight
 Density
 Thickness
 Color
 Watermarks
 Age
 Fluorescence

Pencils
 Lead
 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
 Class characteristics may include
general types of pens, pencils or
paper.
 Individual characteristics may
include unique, individual
handwriting characteristics; trash
marks from copiers, or printer
serial numbers.

Famous Forgers
and Forgeries
 Major George Byron (Lord Byron forgeries)
 Thomas Chatterton (Literary forgeries)
 John Payne Collier (Printed forgeries)
 Dorman David (Texas Declaration of Independence)
 Mark Hofmann (Mormon, Freemason forgeries)
 William Henry Ireland (Shakespeare forgeries)
 Clifford Irving (Howard Hughes forgery)
 Konrad Kujau (Hitler Diaries)
 James Macpherson (Ossian manuscript)
 George Psalmanasar (Literary forgery)
 Alexander Howland Smith (Historical documents)

Paper Chromatography of Ink
Two samples of black
ink from two different
manufacturers have
been characterized
using paper
chromatography.

Retention Factor (Rf)
 A number that
represents how far a
compound travels in a
particular solvent
 It is determined by
measuring the distance
the compound traveled
and dividing it by the
distance the solvent
traveled.

Counterfeiting
In 1996 the government starting
adding new security features to our
paper money due to the advanced
copying technologies that have raised
the incidences of counterfeiting.
Subtle background colors have been
added along with other features to
discourage counterfeiting.

DISTINGUISHING
FROM
COUNTERFIT

$ AT THE CHEKOUT COUNTER
Pass
Turns yellow
Fail
Black or dark
brown
•How $ is Tested
•Iodine solution pen

4th amendment
The right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing
the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized.

More about
Document Analysis
For additional information about
document and handwriting analysis,
check out Court TV’s Crime Library at:
lwww.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/literar
y/1.htm
Or forgery cases at:
www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/scams/lincoln
_forgers/index.html

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