CHAPTER 16 – HANDWRITING & DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
1. Historical dating—the verification of age
and value of a document or object
2. Fraud investigation—focuses on the
money trail and criminal intent
3. Paper and ink specialists—date, type,
source, and/or catalog various types of
paper, watermarks, ink, printing/copy/fax
machines, computer cartridges
4. Forgery specialists—analyze altered,
obliterated, changed, or doctored
documents and photos
5. Typewriting analysts—determine origin,
make, and model
6. Computer crime investigators—
investigate cybercrime
Document Examination
1. 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
Handwriting analysis involves two
phases:
1. The hardware—ink, paper, pens,
pencils, typewriter, printers
2. Visual examination of the writing
Handwriting Characteristics
1. Line quality
2. Word and letter spacing
3. Letter comparison
4. Pen lifts
5. Connecting strokes
6. Beginning and ending strokes
7. Unusual letter formation
8. Shading or pen pressure
9. Slant
10. Baseline habits
11. Flourishes or embellishments
12. Diacritic placement
Handwriting Identification
1. Analysis of the known writing with a determination of the
characteristics found in the known
2. Analysis of the questioned or unknown writing and
determination of its characteristics
3. Comparison of the questioned writing with the known writing
4. Evaluation of the evidence, including the similarities and
dissimilarities between the questioned and known writing
5. The document examiner must have enough exemplars to make
a determination of whether or not the two samples match.
Handwriting Samples
1. The subject should not be shown the
questioned document.
2. The subject is not told how to spell words or use
punctuation.
3. The subject should use materials similar to
those of the document.
4. The dictated text should match some parts of
the document.
5. The subject should be asked to sign the text.
6. Always have a witness.
Hand writing: Individual or Class evidence?
1. Class Characteristics:
– Features and dimensions of letters.
– Connection of letters to each other
– Capitalization
– Punctuation
2. Individual Characteristics:
– Unique features of letters.
– Is the letter “O” open or closed
– Is the “n”written with a pointed tip
**Handwriting samples change about every seven
years**
Basic characteristics for comparing Handwriting
1. Overall Form
– The size, shape, slant, and strokes of the
letters
2. Line Features
– Writing speed, pen pressure, spacing
between letters and words and how the
letters are connected.
3. Margins and Format
4. Content
– Grammar, punctuation and
word choice
Handwriting Analysis – on a piece of
loose leaf, copy the following
passage. 2 minutes.
Writing is a form of expression and neat
handwriting is important when writing
anything that will be read by someone
else. We are often judged by the
quality of our handwriting and when our
penmanship is poor we appear to be
lazy or incompetent.
Handwriting Analysis
• Look through the 5 indicator results (Emotional
Indicators, Goals, Self-Image, Social Skills,
Attitude)
• Match your score with the profile
• Do you agree with all of the results??
• After looking at all of your results, write a brief
reaction (quick write). Do you agree with the
analysis? Do you think this form of analysis is
useful? Explain. To be handed in.
Methods of Forgery
1. Simulated forgery—
one made by copying a
genuine signature
2. Traced forgery—one
made by tracing a
genuine signature
3. Blind forgery—one
made without a model of
the signature
Types of Forgery
1. Check fraud
– Forgery
– Counterfeit
– Alterations
2. Paper money
– Counterfeit
3. Identity
– Social Security
– Driver’s license
1. Credit cards
– Theft of card or
number
2. Art—imitation with
intent to deceive
– Microscopic
examination
– Electromagnetic
radiation
– Chemical analysis
3. Contracts—
alterations of
contracts, medical
records
Document Alterations
1. Obliterations—removal of writing by
physical or chemical means can be
detected by:
– Microscopic examination
– UV or infrared (IR) light
– Digital image processing
2. Indentations can be detected by:
– Oblique lighting
– Electrostatic detection apparatus
(ESDA)
– http://player.vimeo.com/video/22036
861?
– http://player.vimeo.com/video/22036
153
Famous Forgers and Forgeries
1. Major George Byron (Lord
Byron forgeries)
7. Clifford Irving (Howard
Hughes forgery)
2. Thomas Chatterton
(literary forgeries)
8. Konrad Kujau (Hitler
diaries)
3. John Payne Collier
(printed forgeries)
9. James Macpherson
(Ossian manuscript)
4. Dorman David (Texas
Declaration of
Independence)
10. George Psalmanasar
(literary forgery)
5. Mark Hofmann (Mormon,
Freemason forgeries)
6. William Henry Ireland
(Shakespeare forgeries)
11. Alexander Howland
Smith (historical
documents)
Forensic Linguist
1. Expert who looks at the
linguistic content (the way
something is written) of a
questioned document
2. Language that is used can
help to establish the
writer’s age, gender,
ethnicity, level of education,
professional training, and
ideology.
3. http://youtu.be/4z6Krsjwc84
4. http://youtu.be/Dy4fYaNZPk
Ink
1. Chromatography is a method
of physically separating the
components of inks.
2. Types
– HPLC—high-performance
liquid chromatography
– TLC—thin-layer
chromatography
– Paper chromatography
Paper Chromatography of Ink
Two samples of black ink from two different manufacturers have
been characterized using paper chromatography.
Retention Factor (Rf)
1. A number that
represents how far a
compound travels in a
particular solvent
2. It is determined by
measuring the distance
the compound traveled
and dividing it by the
distance the solvent
traveled.
18
Paper
Differences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Raw material
Weight
Density
Thickness
Color
Watermarks
Age
Fluorescence
Pencils
1. Lead
2. 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
1. Class characteristics may
include:
1. general types of pens
2. pencils
3. paper.
2. Individual characteristics may
include:
1. unique, individual
handwriting characteristics
2. trash marks from copiers
3. printer serial numbers.
There are 5 things that differ in
these pictures!
Can you find them all?
A
B
Spot the Counterfeit
Spot the Counterfeit
Spot the Counterfeit (same 2 bills)
Counterfeiting
1. In 1996 the government
starting adding new security
features to our paper money
due to the advanced copying
technologies that have raised
the incidence of
counterfeiting.
2. The $20 bill entered
circulation on October of
2003, followed by the $50 in
September of 2004, and then
the $10 in September of
2005.
3. Subtle background colors
have been added along with
other features to discourage
counterfeiting.
Know Your Money
Paper Consists of 25% linen 75%
Cotton with red & blue fibers.
1. Watermark
2. Color-Shifting Ink (Copper to
Green)
3. Security Thread
4. Serial Numbers
5. Federal Reserve Indicators
6. Check Letter/Quadrant
Number
7. Face Plate Number
8. Series Year
9. Back Plate Number (on back
of bill - right side)
Internet Crimes
1. Computer intrusions
2. Identity theft
3. Transmission of illegal items
4. Extortion and harassment
5. Piracy
6. Cyberterrorism
More about Document Analysis
For additional information
about document and
handwriting analysis, check
out truTV’s Crime Library at:
www.crimelibrary.com/criminal
_mind/forensics/literary/1.ht
m
Or learn about forgery cases at:
www.crimelibrary.com/crimin
al_mind/scams/lincoln_forge
rs/index.html