Examination of documents to determine authorship Questioned Documents Examination of documents to determine authorship 2009©Forensic Science Today

Cases That Included Ques Docs William Marsh Rice Died in 1901 Scheme to kill Rice Inheritance ($4.6 M) Charles Jones worked as his valet conspired to kill him Albert T. Patrick was a lawyer “friend” convicted of murder. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Lindberg case Lindberg Kidnapping The Lindberg’s baby was kidnapped from his bedroom a homemade ladder rungs of the ladder Bruno Richard Hauptmann’s handwriting The Hauptmann used symbols as part of his normal signature. Those symbols were found on the “ransom” letter sent to the Lindbergs. Comparisons were made between letters and connecting strokes in the words on the ransom note and those in the control samples taken from Hauptmann. Rungs Rungs from the ladder fit perfectly into boards in the attic of Hauptmann’s house. The size and shape of the wood was perfect as was the pattern in the wood itself. The kidnapped sent the family random notes. Hauptmann’s handwriting matched the writing in the ransom notes. Hauptmann had a particularly unusual way that he made his letter “x” in the ransom note and the controls. He also made his several other unusual letters that were not recognizable as the letter they represented. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today More Cases Jon Benet Ramsey Ransom note Many issues in processing scene Body found in basement No one found guilty yet A ransom note was “found” on the stairs from first to second floor of the Ramsey house by her mother. Evidence of a practice note was found in a notepad that this note came from. The note was written using a yellow legal pad in the house and was eight pages long. Parents called law enforcement. Parents were allowed to move around the house unhindered until Mr. Ramsey found the body of Jon Benet in the basement. The body was not thoroughly examined by the medical examiner and the underwear she was wearing was lost. A later examination by a second medical examiner recorded evidence of scarring long-term sexual activity. In the ransom note was a request for an unusual amount of money that perfectly matched the amount of money that Mr. Ramsey had recently received as a bonus from his employer. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Hofmann Case Mark Hoffman Selling documents to the Mormon Elders Historical documents The Salamander Letters An account of Joseph Smith’s encounter Joseph Smith, Leader of Mormon faith Bombs Hoffmann researched and restored and sold historical documents related to the Mormon faith. His most famous find was “The Salamander Letters.” History told that these letters were written by Joseph Smith. In them he told about his encounter with a salamander that turned into an angel. Hoffmann learned that some of those involved in the purchases of documents from him were becoming doubtful of their authenticity. He built bombs and delivered two of them to their respective objectives. On the way to deliver the third, the bomb went off in his car, severely injuring Hoffmann. 2009©Forensic Science Today

The Woodchipper Murder Case The first signature on this slide is a signature from a sales slip for the rental of a woodchipper. The second signature is the exemplar taken from Richard Craft, the husband of the murdered Helle Craft. Remains of her body (very tiny pieces) were found at the edge of a lake and DNA from Helle was detected in a woodchipper. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Definition Any document, printed or hand written, whose authenticity or source is being questioned. 2009©Forensic Science Today

Questioned Document Examiner (QDE) A person who is qualified to determine the authenticity or source of a document. Qualification??? ABFDE Certification Apprenticeship Training Proficiency test Qualification is determined by experience, training and certification (Ques Docs Examination). ABFDE (American Board of Forensic Document Examiners) Document examiners must train for 2 years under a a certified examiner. 2009©Forensic Science Today

QDE photographing evidence 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Types of Comparisons Handwriting Paper Ink Printer 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Other Comparisons Typewriter Watermarks Metal design placed on a roller that make the paper thinner in the area of the watermark Made by applying a “dandy roll” to the surface of the paper while it is drying. 2009©Forensic Science Today

Erasures and Eradications Documents can be examined to see if information was erased or scraped from the document. The document pictured on this slide is a test that has had answers erased. 2009©Forensic Science Today

Handwriting Comparisons Individual handwriting characteristics are based upon variations of the mechanical, physical, and mental functions that are different in each of us. If a piece of evidence contains handwriting (particularly cursive), there are individual characteristics that can be analyzed by the Questioned Document Examiner (QDE). 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today What is Compared? Angularity, (how pointy and sharp are the letters) speed, pressure, letter spacing, connecting strokes, 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Line quality or slope Refers to the imaginary line upon which we write on a blank piece of paper. The slant of the writing with respect to that line (level, slanted uphill or downhill and the degree of slant) should be determined for a writer. How to find the slope? The amount of slope and any increase in slope can be measured by 1. making a horizontal line across an overhead sheet 2. placing the overhead over the questioned document 3. then drawing a line on the overhead under a line of the writing The angle between these two lines is a measure of how much the line runs up or down hill. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today More Comparisons relative size and shapes of letters, Grammar and speling, Background Immigrant Education Area of the country or world and smoothness 2009©Forensic Science Today

Comparisons Continued Margins, spacing, Refers to the distances between letters, words, and lines of writing. The pattern of spacing between letters, words and sentences is one that is standard to each writer. crowding of words, and line alignment 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Proportion Proportion: Refers to the general size and consistency of letters in relation to one another. The height or proportion of letters in relation to each other and the relative size and proportion of the words or letters in a sentence should be examined. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Slant and Curves Slant: Refers to which direction the handwriting leans and the degree of slant, with respect to a perfect vertical. Curves: Refers to the degree of curvature in the letters. The sharpness of the tops and bottoms of letters. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Connecting Strokes Connecting Strokes: Refers to the lines used to connect letters in cursive writing. -specific strokes used to connect the letter “o” to “t” in the word note? Every “o” connected to a “t” is not always identical but the way the motion to connect them is formed should be similar samples from the control. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Comparing Samples All of the above must be taken into account Is it consistent with a known standard? In order to say that a questioned handwriting sample is consistent with a known standard or exemplar, all the above comparisons must not show unexplained differences. 2009©Forensic Science Today

Things That Affect Handwriting Wellness Age Sleep Medications Stress Writing surface or device Attempt to disguise 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Forgery Freehand Tracing Removal/replacement Create from scratch Freehand-copy the writing by looking at it and trying to write in a similar manner. Tracing-using a light source to view the original writing through another piece of paper. Or place the writing to be copied on top of the place you want to forge the writing. Using a needle place holes in the original writing down into the new paper. When the original is lifted you just follow the dots made in the new paper. Tracing is particularly easy to detect since NO ONE writes exactly the same way twice. Removal/replacement requires erasing, scraping or chemically removing the original writing. Detecting is done by looking for the disturbance in the fibers of the paper. Creating from scratch is the hardest to do and the hardest to detect. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Paper Different types Bleaching Inclusions Watermarks Change White paper comes in many shades of white. Some are easy to visual detect the differences. Some you can “see” the difference with a UV-light. Inclusions, meaning that all the characteristics are the same in the questioned document and a known document. Watermarks are places in a sheet of paper that have a shape or design in the paper. The paper is thicker in the watermark. Companies that produce paper with watermarks in them change the watermark over time so that the watermark can be dated. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Ink Comparison Filtered light Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) Destructive technique Light of specific frequencies is used to determine if two inks match. Different chemical compositions react differently to light of specific frequencies; for example, infrared. Thin layer chromatography separates the different molecules that the ink is made of by their size (gravity pulls heavier ones down more) and their attraction to the surface versus their solubility in the solution. 2009©Forensic Science Today

2009©Forensic Science Today Typewritten Same typewriter Alignment Ribbon and impressions 2009©Forensic Science Today

Common Questions for QDEs Is the signature genuine? Was the document forged? Was the document written on the date listed? Who out of a group of people wrote this document? Another question, whether personality or state of mind can be inferred from a handwriting sample, relates to the field of graphology, not Questioned Document Examination. 2009©Forensic Science Today