1. Handwriting Analysis
CSI UMMC

2. There are two types of hand writing analysis groups
Graphology study of how handwriting reflects a persons personality and character traits
Questioned Document Examiner or Forensic Document Examiner =determining whether a questioned writing of unknown origin was authored by a person whose known writings are available

3. Uses of Handwriting Analysis
Determine identity of writer
In ransom notes
In document forgery
In death threats
In suicide notes
Can you think of others?

4. Comparisons Are Useful Because
No two people have identical handwriting
By adulthood, it is exclusive to an individual
Even disguised handwriting will exhibit some of the person’s individual characteristics

5. Standard Comparisons Include sample to be analyzed called an EXEMPLAR
Samples from an individual include
Collected writing comes from prior to the beginning of the investigation (helps prevent or indicate when a person is disguising their handwriting)
Requested writing is a dictated text using the same type of paper
Same type of ink as the sample to be analyzed

6. Characteristics for Comparisons
Line quality – Do the letters flow or are they written with intent strokes?
Spacing of words and letters – an average
Ratio of height and width of letters
Connecting strokes – Are capital letters and lower case letters connected?
Unusual letter formations
Pen pressure
Slant – Left, right, slight or pronounced
Baseline habits – Do the letters stay even on the baseline?
Placement of diacritics – How are the t’s crossed and the I’s dotted?

7. Magnification
Often investigators will use copy machine to magnify particular letters and subgroups
This allows a transparency overlay for individual features
Can be tricky because scale must be maintained

8. Forensic Document Examiner
The best thing to examine is something with the same words as the document in question.
An examiner may dictate to a potential suspect, slowly then faster so that they have less chance of disguising the handwriting.
Use same ink and paper (as said before) pencil, ballpoint pen, fountain pen, marker, etc.

9. Forensic Document Examiner
List ways a person may change or attempt to disguise their handwriting
are deliberately careless, or write smaller or larger than they normally do.  They may also try to change the slant of their writing.  They may print instead of write, or they may change the hand they write with. 

10. Forensic Document Examiner
Name items that you could get from a potential suspects home to use for handwriting identification.
Will, checks, diary, grocery notes, letters

11. Forensic Document Examiner
Handwriting originates in the brain when a mental picture of letters and words is formed. The signal to try to duplicate the mental picture is sent to the arm and hand through the muscles and nervous system. The actual output is almost never an exact match of the original mental picture.

12. Forensic Document Examiner
Handwriting is distal, meaning that it occurs at the extremities and involves fine motor activity as opposed to a skill like walking which is proximal - a large, or gross motor skill. One reason individuals find it difficult to simulate the handwriting of others is that to do so successfully requires understanding the essence of the writer's motor control program and executing that same program.

13. Forensic Document Examiner
Some typical document examination questions
Is the signature genuine?
Is the document forged, and if so is it forged by a particular person?
Is the same person the author of several documents?
Did someone guide a person's hand as a will was signed?
Did the doctor come back later and alter the medical records?
Did the signer of the document also initial the changes?
What is written under the crossed out portion of the writing?
Was the document written on the date indicated?

14. Forensic Document Examiner
Some typical document examination questions
Are there erasures on the document?
Are there alterations or obliterations on the document?
What was originally written before the alteration or under the obliteration?
Are there perforations, folds, staple holes, or other physical clues on the document ?
Was the entire document rewritten, or was it prepared sequentially, over a period of time?

15. Forensic Document Examiner FAQs
Can you describe an individual's personality from examining handwriting?
No, forensic document examination does not develop information about personality. There is a separate field of study called "Graphology" which deals with personality and handwriting.

16. Can right or left handedness be detected by examining handwriting?
Forensic Document Examiner FAQ
Can right or left handedness be detected by examining handwriting?
Contrary to popular belief, there are three things that can not be reliably ascertained by examining handwriting. One of those is the "handedness" of the writer. The other two things are the author's gender and age.

17. Forensic Document Examiner FAQs
Can you compare printed writing to cursive writing?
Rarely. Some writers style of writing is a mix of cursive and printed forms, thereby allowing the examiner to carry out some level of examination on either cursive or printed writing. There are also many factors other than letter formation that enter into the examination and and analysis process. However, it is generally accepted that the materials to be compared need to be written in the same style: cursive to cursive, hand printing to hand printing, upper case to upper case, lower case to lower case,

18. Can you examine documents in a foreign language?
Forensic Document Examiner FAQs
Can you examine documents in a foreign language?
Yes, it is possible, but the examiner must first learn about the characteristics of the written language and how that writing is taught

19. Can a document examiner work with photocopies of questioned documents?
Forensic Document Examiner FAQs
Can a document examiner work with photocopies of questioned documents?
This question must be answered on a case by case basis. If the copy is of good quality, and if there is enough information in the writing to allow an opinion, a copy can be sufficient. But there are some situations where the opinion rests on a subtle aspect of the writing that might only be visible on an original viewed under the microscope.

20. Can a client fax documents to you for examination?
Forensic Document Examiner FAQs
Can a client fax documents to you for examination?
There is a wide range in reproduction quality of faxed documents. Until recently a faxed document was of minimal use for comparison of handwriting. The fax process could digitize the writing line, obscure details, and add flaws to the document. A large number of fax machines still produce poor quality documents. However, there are now higher quality fax machines, and there is also a process of electronic faxing in which a document is scanned and transmitted to a virtual fax number through the internet

21. Shredded Material Recovery
The purpose of our work was to turn bags of shredded documents like these...

22. Shredded Material Recovery
Into legible documents like these...

23. Shredded Material Recovery
Which involved separation of individual shreds from the pile and re-assembling them piece by piece.