The document discusses questioned documents and provides definitions and examples of different types of questioned documents. It covers two levels of information that can be obtained from documents - superficial and deeper evidence. It also lists different types of evidence that can be analyzed from documents, including identifying the author or determining authenticity. The document provides a brief history of the field and discusses tools and techniques used in analysis, such as ultraviolet light, infrared examination, video spectral comparator, and electrostatic detection apparatus.

1. Questioned Documents
UNIT 1

2. Definitions
• Document –
• something that contains information
• normally made of paper, but other materials including boards, walls
• even bodies can bear written messages
• Questioned
• Authenticity is questioned
• Counterfeit?
• Who is the author?
• Source?

3. Two levels of information
• Superficial
• where what is conveyed by the document is expressed in writing, typewriting, or
printing, or a combination
• Deeper
• other, less obvious, evidence can be found
• The main area of interest
• identity of the writer
• the source of the typewriting or printing
• the presence of traces of erased entries

4. Evidence that can be obtained from a document
• A connection between a crime and an individual
• the exclusion of that individual from the investigation, can be
established.
• Author
• Authenticity
• Age

5. Analysis
• Scientific method
• Accepted technique
• Proper trained experts
• Not relying on instinct
• Working in a prescribed manner

6. A brief History
• 1887- “The Ohio Supreme Court recognized the importance of
handwriting as a means of identifying a person ”
• Utilizing standards of comparison, expert comparative analysis and opinion
testimony regarding writing to established questioned writing as prepared by a
specific writer.
• 1900 -Daniel T. Ames “Ames on Forgery” - 1900
• One of the earliest treatises by the founder of the Penman’s Art Journal,
penmanship author and “Examiner of Contested 1900 Contested Handwriting in
Courts of Justice”

7. • 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.
• American Society of Questioned Document Examiners

8. Videos to watch
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XX44bVs5H4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M6y8vXisiI

9. Classes of Questioned Documents

10. 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.

11. 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,
• 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 6. Documents investigated on the question of
typewriting
• (a) With a view to ascertaining their source.
• (b) With a view to determining their date.

18. 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.

19. Videos to watch
• A movie – Catch me if you Can

20. Preliminary examination

21. • systematic approach
• standard method of operation assures
• that a complete analysis is conducted methodically
• meets the requirements for expert testimony, according to Daubert.

22. First step
• Determining whether the material is of good quality
• Contains enough characteristics of handwriting to be identifiable
• Squiggly lines and initials or short signatures may not contain enough
characteristics
• Initials (found in teachers most commonly)

23. Second Step – only if sufficient characteristics can be
found
• Exemplar collection (Standard writing)
• determine if they are suitable for comparison with the questioned
material.
• must be representative of the writer
• written under similar conditions as the questioned material within a
reasonable time frame.

24. Exemplar Parameters
• should come from an environment similar to that of the questioned
material
• should reflect the physical and mental condition of the writer at the
time of the questioned writing
• should have been written before the questioned material and some
shortly after
• should contain suitable material for comparison, such as similar letter
combinations and spacing
• all of the exemplars are genuine

25. Hitler Diaries
• In April 1983 Gruner and Jahr, the parent company of the West German
publisher of the popular magazine Stern, announced that it had
purchased for $2.3 million an astonishing set of documents: sixty-two
notebooks that purported to be the handwritten diaries of Adolf Hitler,
as well as an unpublished third volume of Mein Kampf (My Struggle),
Hitler's autobiographical manifesto written while he was incarcerated
in Landsberg prison in the 1920s.
• Stern began to serialize the diaries, which covered the period 1935–45,
and sold publication rights to Newsweek in the United States and to
the London Times.

26. • The story surrounding the documents supposed that they had been on
a plane carrying the Führer's personal archives out of Berlin when it
was shot down in April 1945 near the village of Börnersdorf, in what
would later become East Germany. The documents, which escaped
destruction because they were housed in a metal box, were recovered
by local farmers, who hid them until they were smuggled out of the
country and came into the hands of a document collector and World
War II enthusiast named Konrad Kujau.

27. • The diaries sent shock waves throughout the world and touched off a
historical controversy, for they portrayed a Hitler who was very
different from the man who haunted the history books. In particular,
they suggested that Hitler had no involvement in the 1938 riot against
the Jews called Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), that he knew
nothing of the "final solution," or plans to exterminate Europe's Jewish
population, and that his goal was simply to resettle western Europe's
Jews in eastern Europe. If the diaries were authentic, they were the
most significant historical find in decades, and the history of
the Nazi regime of the 1930s and 1940s would have to be entirely
rewritten.
•

28. • Stern had initially been skeptical and reluctant to purchase the documents. In
time, skepticism and reluctance turned into an almost fevered excitement
about this apparent historical discovery. Stern's eventual willingness to accept
the authenticity of the documents rested on two foundations. First were the
memoirs of Lieutenant General Hans Baur, Hitler's chief SS pilot, who
confirmed that a plane flown by one Major Friedrich Gundlfinger was indeed
ferrying Hitler's private papers out of the country the month when his plane
was shot down. Second, Stern sought confirmation from other sources. It
submitted the papers to three handwriting experts: Dr. Max Frei-Sulzer , a
former head of the police forensic science department in
Zurich, Switzerland; American document verification expert Ordway Hilton;
and a third expert in the employ of the German police. Comparing the writing
in the diaries with known samples of Hitler's handwriting retrieved
from Germany's Federal Archives, these experts concluded that both the
diaries and the samples were written by the same hand, that of Adolf Hitler.
Backing up their claims were prominent historians such as Britain's Hugh
Trevor-Roper, although other historians noted historical inconsistencies in
the diaries and denounced them as hoaxes.

29. • The controversy prompted the German Federal Archives to conduct its
own independent tests, focusing not on the handwriting, but on the
physical documents themselves. On May 6, 1983, the archives held a
press conference and announced that the diaries were forgeries.
• The forensics evidence used to reach this conclusion was based on
examination of the ink and paper, as well as seals affixed to the
documents. Modern ink has different varieties of chemical
composition, or "fingerprints," that fall into four groupings: (1) inks in
which gallic acid is used to hold iron salts in suspension; (2) those in
which gum arabic is used to hold carbon particles in suspension; (3)
those that contain synthetic dyes, as well as a range of polymers and
acids; (4) those that contain various solvents and additives such as
chloride to hold synthetic dyes or pigments.

30. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ0tAxnapos
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8-Tq-dZw_w

31. Factors to be kept in mind
• Mechanical factors such as
• writing instrument
• type of paper
• writing surface
• amount of light used.
• Physical factors incorporate
• health of the writer, both physical and mental
• any handicaps or accidents affecting the writing hand
• whether the writer was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• amount of formal education of the writer in order to identify the skill level.

32. Initial examination
• search for obvious signs of forgery in the questioned material.
• simple forgery is generally the easiest type of forgery to identify
• determine if there is any evidence of self-disguise (if there are no signs
of forgery)

33. Basic tools needed for forensic
documents’ examination
UV
LECTURE 4

34. Ultraviolet fluorescence
• can be used as a means for testing whether two or more pieces are
similar or different
• materials, such as glues, adhesive tapes, and sealing waxes, can also be
distinguished by their fluorescences
• application of solvents or chemicals to paper can cause the
fluorescence to change
• some differences between inks
• Invisible inks
• writing that has been erased

35. • 10-400nm in wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum
• Three types
• Short wavelength – 180-280
• Sterilization, chromatography, etc
• Medium wavelength -280-320
• Cosmetic and therapeutic purpose
• Long wavelength – 320-400
• Beneficial for forensic examination

40. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVQZOy9m8CM

41. Infrared
• longer wavelengths than visible light
• generally invisible to the human eye
• can be felt as heat by humans
• 700 nanometers (nm) to 1 millimeter (mm)
• readily absorbed and converted in to the heat energy

42. Analysis of Inks
• any disputed or altered document
• use of two different types of inks is suspected
• differences among the reflectivity of the ink used

43. Analysis of Obliterated Writings
• using correction fluid and then over-writing
• by damaging the previous text and then over-writing
• One ink will be opaque and other will be transparent at certain
wavelength

45. Examination of Erasures
• Small particles of the ink or pencil often linger in the outline when
writing is erased mechanically
• Cancellation Marks
• The cancelation mark residues may not be visible duets the stamp's dark
background. An infrared photograph may reveal the remains of previous marks of
cancellation.
• Water Damaged
• the residual ink in the paper fluoresced in the infrared and this can be recorded
further to decipher the written matter.

46. Video spectral comparator

47. Comprises of the following
• (a) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometer
• (b) Computer
• (c) Monitor VSC is an integrated composite system comprising of
cameras, various light sources which includes IR, Laser, UV etc. and
filters which assist in comparison of questioned documents.

48. Features of VSC
• 1. Hi Fi Imaging Technology: An optical system that minimizes spatial distortions and
chromatic aberration throughout the entire magnification range offering excellent
image quality.
• 2. High Resolution Imaging System
• 3. Full Range Light Source: Includes incident and transmitted ultraviolet to infrared
plus high intensity illumination for the examination of Infrared Florescence of inks.
• 4. Graphic User Interface: Innate, on screen control system allows the operator to
navigate the system more easily. Magnification, light sources, filters, image analysis
and image processing functions are selected from simple on screen icons using
mouse.
• 5. Multiple Laser Images (MLI): MLI and changeable Laser Images can be viewed
using the VSC’s side lights. Alternatively the VSC range of hologram imaging LED’s
can be used giving great flexibility.

49. • 6. Latent Images: A new software feature, a digital imaging filter that detects
and enhances latent security images on documents.
• 7. Intelligent software: VSC ensures compatible combination of illumination
and imaging filter automatically.
• 8. OVI Imaging: An optical viewer that create images of OVI print from two
angles incident at 45º, simultaneously.
• 9. Image comparison: A range of facilities for displaying images of two
documents simultaneously including split screen, overlay and alternate
strobe.
• 10. Microspectrometer: A high resolution real time grating spectrometer
provides absorption, reflectance, transmittance and fluorescence spectra.

50. • 11. Image integration: A variation in the IR fluorescence emitted by two inks
provides a valuable means of detecting a fraudulent alteration to the
document.
• 12. ICAO Data Reader: The OCR allows operations to check data in the
machine readable zone of passports and ID cards.
• 13. Areas of Interest Processing: By selecting restricted area of an image, the
effects of image enhancement can be improved.
• 14. Bar code Reader Deciphers: 1D and 2D Bar codes including PDF417 format.
• 15. Image Measurement: A software module that enables examiner to make a
variety of measurement including distances, angles, areas, circle radii and
shape perimeters. A simple calibration procedure also enables absolute values
to be computed.

51. • 6. Birefringent security Features: A circular polarizer will image security
features printed with chiral birefringent pigment which appears to contrast
against the background under the polarizer.
• 17. Color measurement: Characterizes the color of a selected area of an image
in standard color coordinates for comparison.
• 18. Image enhancement with pseudo color mapping
• 19. Invisible information decoders
• 20. Image processing and enhancement
• 21. Programmed examinations
• 22. Hyper spectral imaging

52. LIGHT SOURCES AND THEIR USES
• The VSC has four different light sources. These are used to help bring out specific
types of features in the document examined.
• The first light source is incandescent filament lamps. These have a range from 400
nm-1000 nm and encompass visible and IR light. These lights are used in the VSC
when one uses the functions of flood, transmitted, spot and side lighting.
• The LED lamps which have a wavelength from 400-700 nm are used with coaxial
lighting and diffracted lighting. The UV lamps are Vapor discharge tubes.
• The VSC offers three ranges of UV light. This is with 365 nm (UV-A), 312 nm (UV-B)
and 254 (UV-C) peak wavelengths. All of these can illuminate the document from
above. With transmitted lighting the VSC only offers UV light with 365 nm.
• The last of the light sources is a flash tube. This lamp has a range of 850-1100 nm and
is used for the Anti-Stokes flash function.

54. ESDA

55. Electrostatic detection apparatus
• to decipher indentations or impressions in paper.
• a non-destructive technique
• capable of detecting indentations or impressions or sub-surface
writings created on pages which are several layers beneath the top-
most sheet.

56. Indented writing
• writing that is formed to a sheet of paper underneath the one on which
the original writing was done.
• he pressure exerted by the pen or pencil is sufficient to indent the
papers beneath
• partially visible depressions
• he indented writing would appear as a carbon copy of the top sheet

57. Working of ESDA
• Plastic sheet and questioned document with some toner
• Put in vacuum
• Charge is applied
• Difference in charge on the plastic sheet corresponding to the
indentations of the questioned document
• Toner goes and rests there creating a carbon image of the indentations
marks.

58. Components
• 1. Main Unit
• 2. Reel holder (Imaging film)
• 3. Corona Wand
• 4. Mains power adapter

59. Procedure
• The document is placed on a porous, electrically earthen plate
• A length of thin, transparent imaging film (Mylar) is placed over the
document to completely cover it.
• Negative electrical charge is deposited onto the upper surface of the
imaging film
• an electrostatic image forms on the imaging film
• electrostatic image is developed and made visible by applying
negativelycharged black toner powder to the imaging film
• ESDA image is made permanent by laminating the imaging film with a
sheet of adhesive fixing film

60. USES
• Cheque Forgery-: In this category of forgery, possibility of cheque book in the
hands of awful people can be there. The person can forge the signature on
cheque and withdraw the money. In such a case we can examine second
cheque for any indentations present.
• Traced Forgery-: Traced forgery can be done by tracing signature or
handwriting impressed on second page. The forger will follow the pattern of
indentation of signature or handwriting to forge the signature or handwriting
of someone. In this case deciphering of traced forgery can be done using
ESDA.
• Ransom note existence can be determined from the source of indentations by
deciphering it on another piece of paper (culprit’s notepad) in case written.
• An anonymous letter may bear impressions of writings that relate to some
everyday activity of the offender which can ultimately lead an investigator to a
particular suspect.

62. Videos to watch
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKxx1bs7LyU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMLHbPLKZLU

63. Handwriting

64. • an acquired skill
• complex perceptual-motor task
• a neuromuscular task
• one of the most advanced achievements of the human hand

65. The process of handwriting
• 27 bones in the hand
• controlled by more than 40 muscles
• situated in the lower arm and connect to the fingers by an intricate set of tendons.
• precisely coordinated by a timing system
• a neural control of movements of the arm, the hand, and the fingers
• determines the structure of the pattern that is recorded by the pen or pencil

66. Development of writing
• culture dependent
• cultures differ with locales
• undergo constant change
• class, system, or national characteristics

67. Attributes
• a continuous or flowing task
• apparent interruptions at word boundaries
• pen movement may be continuous and uninterrupted
• skilled performance of handwriting - smooth execution of a structured
sequence of coordinated movements
• particular pattern of these movements constitutes the habitual aspects of
writing
• with practice and skill, the execution of writing habits becomes more
automatic
• Making the writing process less subject to conscious control.

68. History of the study of handwriting
• the correlation of writing features and various medical and mental
conditions
• identify the affects of social status, self-esteem, and sex upon
handwriting
• correlation of writing features and particular personality
characteristics
• pedagogy of writing and remedial approaches to improve
its quality in the writing of children

69. Principles of Handwriting
• No two people write exactly alike
• all writing contains natural variation so that no two writing samples by
the same writer will be exactly the same
• Writing is a complex act and a highly developed skill. Many influences
affect the development of each person’s writing ability, resulting in the
unique style of each individual writer

70. Some additional points
• beginning of the individuality - visual observation of one’s
surroundings
• Writing is affected by what we see and what we remember

71. Factors that help in mastering handwriting
• powers of observation
• the ability to remember the forms
• attempt to reproduce the forms observed.
• ability to overcome the mechanical and physical impediments to
writing
• placing the paper at the proper angle
• holding the paper in place with one hand to steady it while writing with the other,
• learning to control the pen or pencil and direct the movements
• Choosing a pen that you are comfortable with

72. Natural variations in Handwriting

73. • graphic maturity - Once a writer has reached the permanent condition
of automatic writing
• Continues until some physical or mental disturbance interferes

74. • Robert Saudek[ states that a person is capable of writing fluently, easily, and
automatically only under the following conditions:
1. The writer is familiar with the letters so that mention of a letter conjures a
graphic image of that letter in his or her mind.
2. The writer has control of the writing instrument and the mechanical
factors of the paper, pen, and writing surface do not interfere with the writing.
3. The writer is free of any physical impediment that would hinder writing.
4. The writer knows how to spell the words and does not have to concentrate
on the spelling.
5. The writer is writing in his or her native language.

75. Basic factors that influence writing
• MECHANICAL FACTORS
• change of body position
• Lighting
• type of pen and paper
• writing surface
• TIME SPAN
• changes over the course of one’s life.
• from childhood to adolescence
• change again when one reaches adulthood
• until one reaches graphic maturity
• decline as the aging process reduces one’s skill level
• HEALTH
• BLINDNESS

76. • MENTAL HEALTH
• DRUGS AND MEDICATION
• ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE
• ACCIDENTALS
• GUIDED HAND
• TREMOR IN HANDWRITING

78. Determining the age and
relative age of documents

79. • is not as old as it purports to be
• whether a document is actually as old as its date would indicate
• to show the probable date of an undated document
• whether several documents, or several writings bearing different dates,
are not actually of the same age

80. Paper
• when the paper was first manufactured
• the manufacturer of the paper must be known
• the manufacturer must have records that disclose when certain
combinations of materials were first introduced
• watermark found in better grades of writing, typing, and computer
printing papers
• Few watermarks include a dating code that allows the manufacturer to
determine the year in which the paper was made

81. • Records are generally available
• changes in design of the watermark or by defects developed over time
in the watermark dandy roll – help in dating documents or proving the
dates fraudulent
• Making watermarks – a simple process-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQwTblKyU8g

82. Writing Inks
• During the 20th century a number of new chemicals were developed
and used in the production of writing inks.
• new classes of inks have been developed for use in a variety of pens
now on the market, including ballpoint, roller ball, porous tip and gel
• Their presence on a document of a particular date may be inconsistent
with the earliest availability of the writing ink or pen
• In the early 1970s rare-earth elements, and later special chemicals, were
added to some inks in order to tag them for identification and dating
purposes

83. • The rare-earth component was dropped early on due to problems in detecting
their presence and other analytical problems.
• Extensive ink reference libraries have been developed by government
laboratories in the U.S. and overseas as well as by a small number of private
practitioners
• The application of TLC allows for the differentiation of the various dye
components that make up the ink’s color.
• The results can be compared with the ink reference library and probable
matches made, which may allow the document examiner to establish the
earliest date of commercial availability.
• These reference specimens are most helpful in proving that a document could
not have been written on a certain date because the ink was not then
available.

84. Photocopiers and Printers
• earliest copier models used a liquid toner
• later years dry toner became the standard
• advances in inkjet technology
• Dot matrix technology has, to some extent, fallen by the way
• It may be possible to determine that a document could not have been
produced on the date suggested based on the availability of the copying
or printing process at that time.

85. Paper

86. • Egyptians used papyrus as a writing surface.
• To make papyrus, they mashed reeds together into a flat sheet of pulp
and dried them.
• They mixed soot with water as ink and sharpened a reed into a pen to
write on the papyrus.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO72jfUCYSg

87. • Vellum was created as a writing surface from the skin of calves. It came
into use in the second century BC
• paper from the inner bark of bamboo and hemp
• The Arabs learned to make paper when they conquered the Chinese in
751
• Eleven hundred years later Europeans began making paper, using
cotton and linen as the base
• William Rittenhouse of Roxborough, PA founded the first paper plant
in America in 1690.

88. • Today most paper is made from wood pulp and may contain some
cotton.
• Higher quality paper uses cotton rag
• a scientific process that employs highly sophisticated equipment in the
manufacture of thousands of varieties of paper

89. • chipping pulpwood into small pieces that are then mixed with
chemicals and fed into pressure vessels called digesters to soften the
lignin, which binds the fibers together. In this cooking process, the
cellulose fibers are separated.
• They proceed through several stages of washing, screening, cleaning,
and, if necessary, bleaching to the desired brightness.
• Next, the fibers are combined with pigments, dyes, and sizing. This
mixture is more than 99% water and less than 1% fiber and other
solids. It flows onto a moving screen called a Fourdrinier, on which the
fibers mat, forming a continuous sheet of paper with much of the water
drawn through the screen into collection tanks to be recycled.

90. • The web of pulp passes through heavy rollers, which press moisture
from the sheet.
• This sheet proceeds over steam-heated cylinders to complete the
drying stage through the evaporation of the water.
• Frequently, a starch application or pigmented coating is applied by a
size press or coater. The paper then passes through a series of calendar
stacks (iron rollers stacked together) that smooth the paper. The paper
is rewound into smaller rolls or converted into sheets ready for
shipment.

91. Water mark
• During the pressing process the paper passes over a dandy roll, which
imprints the watermark on the paper.
• The watermark is actually a thinner area of the paper.
• The dandy roll contains the design of the watermark in a metal form,
which pushes the paper fibers aside, leaving an imprint in the paper.
• Most sheets of paper contain a single watermark, but some paper, such
as safety paper, may contain multiple designs.
• The dandy roll also makes the imprint for woven or laid papers,
particularly rag bonds. Laid paper has a grid pattern impressed in the
paper

92. PAPER FOR PRINTING OR WRITING
• Newsprint - is the least expensive paper manufactured. It is composed
mostly of ground wood, causing it to discolor easily. Its principal asset
is opacity, a result of the impurities of the wood.
• Offset - an uncoated paper that usually contains fillers and additives. It
is bleached and sized to resist water. Cost is slightly more than double
the cost of newsprint. It is used for the publication of books as well as
catalog sheets, loose-leaf inserts, and tablet paper.
• Bond paper - so named because it was originally used to print stocks
and bonds. It is popular in the modern business office. Law firms
frequently use high-quality bond paper.

93. • Lightweight, uncoated papers include onionskin, which comes in
smooth or cockle finishes, and snap-out forms, which are frequently
made with manifold papers made from wood fibers. Another
classification in lightweight paper is “bible” paper

94. Questions to Ask About Paper
• What kind of paper was used?
• Was more than one kind of paper used on a multi-page document?
• Are the watermarks the same? In the same direction?
• Is the paper the same size, thickness, color?
• Are there any marks on the paper?
• Are there any holes where the paper may have been stapled? Are the holes
consistent?
• Was the paper torn or damaged?
• Did it come from a pad? Can the tears be matched?

95. • Are those grip marks from a printer feeder?
• Is the paper lined?
• Is the paper soiled? Crumbled? Faded?
• Was the paper cut by hand?
• Are there any discolorations or stains on the paper? What caused them?
• Did ink from another page bleed through?
• Is there any indented writing on the paper?
• Are there any signs of erasure through abrasion or the application of
chemicals?
• Are the margins on the paper all the same?