Documents

1
Documents
2
Documents

• A document is defined as anything on which a
  mark is made
• for the purpose of transmitting a message.

• A questioned document is one where its origin
  is unknown.

• A standard/exemplar is a document of know
  origin.

• A standard/exemplar is used for comparison

• Forgery is the act of falsifying documents.

3
Documents

• A standard/exemplar vs. questioned document.

1956 Weinberger Kidnapping
your baby sitter

• An FBI-conducted analysis and made a
• match between the top two sign-offs
• ("Your baby sitter"), pulled from the
• ransom notes, and the bottom two,
• from the prime suspect .

4
Documents
Documents as Evidence

• Because no two people have the same handwriting
  it
• is individual evidence.

• However, a persons physical and emotional
  well-being
• can alter an individuals writing.

5
Documents
Handwriting Development

• When children first learn to write, their
  handwriting is similar,
• with differences based on skill.

• As an individual matures, their handwriting
  becomes
• subconscious and habitual shapes sand patterns
  distinguish
• it from others.

• Basic patterns are set for most people by young
  adulthood.

6
Documents
Handwriting Analysis

• Handwriting experts may be able to make a
  positive identification
• if there are enough samples for examination and
  enough exemplars
• against to compare those samples.

• To determine if a signature or writing is
  authentic, a document
• examiner will generally examine 12
  characteristics.

7
Documents
Handwriting Analysis

• Line quality Are the line smooth, free flowing,
  and rhythmic or
• or shaky, nervous, and wavering?

• Spacing of words and letters Is the spacing
  between the words
• letters consistent between exemplar and known
  document?

3. Ratio of relative height, width, and size of
letters Are they consistent between exemplar
and known document?
4. Pen lifts and separations Check to see how
writer stops to form new letters. Forgers may
have pen lifts or separarions in unusual places.
8
Documents
Handwriting Analysis

• Connecting strokes Compare how capital letters
  are connected
• lower case letters and how strokes connect
  between letters and
• words.

• Beginning and ending strokes Compare how a
  writer begins
• and ends a word. Are they straight, curved,
  upstroke, down stroke?

7. Unusual letter formations Does the letter
have a tail or any unusual capitals?

• Pen pressure Individuals use different amounts
  of pressure
• when writing.

9
Documents
Handwriting Analysis

• Slant Dose the writing slant to the left or
  right, or is it straight
• up and down?

10. Baseline habits Does the writing tend to
move upward, downward, or continue
on a straight line?
11. Embellishments Are there many fancy
letters, curls, loops, circles, etc.
12. Placement of diacriticals Check the crossing
of ts and dotting of is and js.
10
Documents
Handwriting Analysis Graphology
Graphology is the study and analysis of
handwriting especially in relation to human
psychology.
Graphology is based upon the following basic
assertions
11
Documents

• When we write, the ego is active but it is not
  always active to
• the same degree. Thus influencing our
  handwriting.

• When the action of writing is comparatively
  difficult, the writer
• uses those forms of letters which are simpler or
  more familiar.

• Written strokes reflect both transitory and long
  term changes
• in the central nervous system such as
  Parkinsons disease,
• drug or alcohol usage.

• The movements and corresponding levels of
  muscular tension
• in writing are mostly outside of conscious
  control. Emotion,
• mental state, and biomechanical factors such as
  muscle stiffness
• and elasticity are reflected in a person's
  handwriting.

12
Documents

• One must examine the handwriting or drawing
  movements by
• considering them as movements organized by the
  central nervous
• system and produced under biomechanical and
  dynamical
• constraints. Given these considerations,
  graphologists proceed
• to evaluate the pattern, form, movement, rhythm,
  quality, and
• consistency of the graphic stroke in terms of
  psychological
• interpretations. Such interpretations vary
  according to the
• graphological theory applied by the analyst.

13
Documents
Approaches to Graphology
1. Integrative Graphology
This approach holds that specific stroke
structures relate to personality traits. Most
systems within this approach use a cluster of
stroke formations, to score a specific
personality trait. Systems that fall under this
umbrella are fixed signs, trait stroke, French
System and Graphoanalysis. It has been
described as starting from the inside, and
working to the outside.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphoanalysis
14
Documents
2. Holistic Graphology
In this approach a profile is constructed on the
basis of form, movement and space. It has been
described as starting from the outside, and
working to the inside. In this approach,
individual traits, such as legibility, are not
assigned specific meanings, but can take on
different meanings depending on the overall
context.
15
Documents
3. Symbolic Analysis
In this approach, one looks for symbols seen in
the handwriting. This can be either Major
symbolism, or Minor Symbolism
Major symbolism is the meaning ascribed to the
stroke, as it related to the page.
Minor symbolism ascribes a meaning to the
stroke, depending upon the picture that the
stroke draws. For example, John's Waynes
signature shows a blackened out portion, that
represents his lung cancer.
16
Documents
Validity to Graphology
Recent studies testing the validity of using
handwriting for predicting personality traits
have been consistently negative.
17
Documents
JonBenet Ramsey Case

• According to the testimony of Patsy Ramsey, on
  December
• 26, 1996, she discovered her daughter missing
  after finding a
• two and half-page ransom note on the kitchen
  staircase,
• demanding 118,000 for the safe return of her
  daughter,
• which was the exact value of a bonus her husband
  receive
• earlier that year.

18
Documents
Ransom Note
19
Documents
Handwriting Slant Analysis
20
Documents
Result of Handwriting Analysis
In handwriting analysis, it is not the similarity
of the letters by themselves that is important,
it is the TOTALITY of the similar letters in
addition to other factors. Anyone can have a few
similar traits in their handwriting, but it is
not the traits alone that define authorship. The
analysis must be taken as a whole, and other
components such as spacing, rhythm, pressure,
margins, primary zones, connecting strokes and
pastosity are all part of the comparison. Patsy
Ramsey has ALL of the above-mentioned traits in
common with the Ransom Note writer. I have
pointed out only a few of the obvious
similarities, but there are many more. Patsy
Ramsey was present in the house and had means,
motive and opportunity to write the Ransom Note.
The odds of someone else with the exact same
handwriting traits coming in and killing her
daughter, leaving a three page ransom note and
staging a crime scene are absolutely
astronomical.In addition, it would be
impossible to successfully forge a three-page
ransom note in Patsys unique handwriting. That
type of forgery has been tried in various
experiments, and has failed.Together, the
handwriting analysis and linguistic analysis give
one result.Patsy Ramsey is the author of the
Ransom Note.
21
Documents
Ink

• Ink can be studied with Chromatography.

• Chromatography is a simple procedure
• where a solvent is used to separate ink
• into basic components.

• It is than possible to compare a note
• with a certain pen.

• Manufacturers are tagging inks and
• changing it every year to make dating
• questioned documents easier.

22
Documents
Spectral Comparator

• An indispensable tool for a document analysts
  the Spectral
• Comparator.

• It uses different light sources to see what the
  eye cannot.

UV Light (ink)
UV Light (paper)
UV Light (watermark)