1. Examination of documents to determine authorship
Questioned Documents
Examination of documents to determine authorship
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2. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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Historical documents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.
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6. 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.
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Definition
Any document, printed or hand written, whose authenticity or source is being questioned.
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8. 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.
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9. QDE photographing evidence
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Types of Comparisons
Handwriting
Paper
Ink
Printer
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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.
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12. 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.
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13. 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).
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What is Compared?
Angularity, (how pointy and sharp are the letters)
speed, pressure,
letter spacing,
connecting strokes,
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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.
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More Comparisons
relative size and shapes of letters,
Grammar and speling,
Background
Immigrant
Education
Area of the country or world
and smoothness
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17. 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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22. Things That Affect Handwriting
Wellness
Age
Sleep
Medications
Stress
Writing surface or device
Attempt to disguise
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Typewritten
Same typewriter
Alignment
Ribbon and impressions
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27. 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