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HISTORY OF DOCUMENTS

From the very earliest time, man has put down marks on different materials to make forms of writing were simple
pictures on the walls of caves. Man soon found he could not express all of his thoughts by means of pictures so systems of
writing were developed. Early writings were on stones and metal. Later skins of animals were used. Paper was first invented
by the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago but it was not common in other countries for a long time. With the making of
paper, writing became more common to many people. Criminalistics were quick to learn that it was profitable to make false
documents. Knowledge of the methods of making false document is therefore necessary to the police investigator. The
examination of questioned document falls into broad classes.

PERSONALITIES IN QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS EXAMINATION

1. Albert Sherman Osborn

 Father of Scientific Examination of Questioned Document
 The first American prominent in the field of forgery detection, and author of the seminal “Questioned Documents”, an
exhaustive work indispensable even today.
 By his efforts, courts began to accept the presentation of forged documents as scientific evidence.
 He founded the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners on September 2, 1942.

2. Albert D. Osborn
 He was the third President of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.
 He served in the Military during World War I. Upon returning from overseas in 1919, he began attending the meeting
that eventually led to the formation of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.
 He was one of the 15 men who founded the Society.
 He was the son of the founding president of the ASQDE, and was associated with his Father in private practice for
many years.
 His sons are Paul Osborn and Russel Osborn, both became examiners of questioned documents, as did his grandson
John P. Osborn.
 Among Mr. Osborn’s many high profile cases, he was one of the 8 documemt examiners who testified for the
prosecution in the case against Bruno Hauptmann in the kidnapping/murder of the Lindbergh baby.
 He was a co-author of the book Questioned Document Problems with his father and he was also the author of many
professional papers.

3. B.J. Vreeland Haring and J. Howard Haring

 The father and son Haring of New York were the world famous handwriting experts who testified on Charles A.
Lindberg Jr. Kidnapping case.
 The defendant to the case was Bruno Richard Hauptmann Flemington, New Jersey in 1935.
 Fourteen letters were directed to the famous parents of the kidnapped Lindberg baby was abducted. The other letters
contained follow-up ransom demands and instructions.

4. J. Newton Baker
 a Consultative Expert in Disputed document and in 1995 he authored the book, “Law of Disputed and Forged
Documents”.

5. James V.P. Conway

 was an Examiner of Questioned Documents of San Francisco, California Postal Inspector in-charge, San Francisco
Identification Laboratory U.S. Postal Inspection Service and authored “Evidential Documents” which was published in
Springfield, Illinois, USA in 1959.

6. Hans Scheickert (1874-1944)

 A Doctor of Law and Director of the Identification Bureau of the Police Department of Berlin until 1928.
 He was a Criminology Professor at the University of Berlin in 1920 and a well-known handwriting expert.

7. Dr. Wilson R. Harrison

 Was the Director of the British Government’s Office, Home Office Forensic Science Society of Questioned Document
Examiners.
 He authored the book “Suspect Document Examiners Their Scientific Examination”, first published in London 1958.
 He had over twenty years experience in the examination of suspect documents for the police forces of England and
Wale for many government departments.

8. Ordway Hilton
 Was the 6th President of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.
 He was born in 1913 and grew up in Evanston, Illinois.
 He majored in Mathematics at Northwestern University and received a master’s degree in statistics from the same
university in 1937.
 He was the first questioned document examiner in the then new crime laboratory of the Chicago Police Department.
 In 1994, while still on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he attended the second meeting of
the ASQDE in Montclair, New Jersey, home of Albert S. Osborn.
 In 1946, he became associated with Elbridge Stein, the first secretary of the ASQDE, in his private practice in New York
City. He continued the practice alone when Mr. Stein retired in 1951.
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 In 1979, he moved his practice to Landrum, South Carolina.

 He is a prolific writer of journal articles and professional papers, and authored one of the best known texts in the field,
“Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents”, in 1956, and a revised edition of the text in 1982.
 He also authored Detecting and Deciphering Erased Pencil Writing.
 He was a Diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners.
 He was instrumental in establishing the Questioned Documents Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
(AAFS).
 From 1959 to 1960, he served as the 10th president of the AAFS.
 He is one of the few AAFS fellows to be named a Distinguished Felle and one of only four questioned document
examiners to ever receive this honor.
 In 1980, he was the first recipient of the AAFS Questioned Documents Section Award, which would be named in his
honor.
 He passed away in 1998.

9. Roy A. Huber
 Was the 24th President of the ASQDE.
 After joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1940, he worked as a police constable at various
detachments in the Province of Saskatchewan.
 In 1949, he transferred to the Document Section of the RCMP’s Regina Laboratory to commence a career that would
span more than fifty years.
 Under the tutelage of senior document examiners Hugh Rafcliffe and Chester Eaves, Mr. Huber completed his training
program and moved to the RCMP’s eastern laboratory in Ottawa.
 He wrote and presented more than 30 papers including such titles as Typist Identification, Modern Trends in
Counterfeiting, The Production and Identification of Embossing Seals, and The Quandary of “Qualified” Opinions.
 In 1999, he published a book entitled “Handwriting Identification-Facts and Fundamentals”, which has become an
important text in the Training of forensic document examiners.
 The first ASQDE conference he attended was the 1955 meeting that was held in Houston. He presented his first ASQDE
paper entitled, The Potentialities of the Blink Microscope Principle in Typewriting Comparisons.
 He joined the Society as a Provisional Member in 1961 and was elected a Regular Member in 1964.
 For over 40 years, he regularly attended ASQDE annual conferences and missed only two meetings for reasons beyond
his control.
 He served on its Board of Directors as Secretary and Vice President prior to his election to President.
 Elected a Life Member in 2001, he continued to support the Society as a member of its Nominating and Journal
Committees.
 In 2003, Roy Huber received the Albert S. Osborn Award of Excellence in recognition of his distinguished career and
many contributions he made to both the ASQDE and the profession as a whole.

10. Charles Chabot

 was an English graphologist who, as part of the firm of Netherclift, Chabot and Matheson, was an early practitioner of
questioned document examination.
 He was born Battersea, the son of Charles, a lithographer, and Amy née Pearson, a couple of Hugenot descent.
Beginning as a lithographer, he developed as an expert in handwriting and became sought after as an expert witness in
a variety of famous trials including the Roupell case and the Tichborne Case.
 In 1871, Chabot became involved in establishing the identity of Junius and concluded the he was Sir Philip Francis.

WORLD’S CASES ON DISPUTED DOCUMENT

Colins Evans cited the world’s cases on disputed document are as follows:

 John Magnuson Case: Date 1922; Location: Marshfield, Wisconsin; Significance: From just a few scraps of bomb-
damaged paper, investigator gleaned enough evidence to capture the Yule Bomb Killer. In his final address,
Magnuson’s attorney, Charles Briere, fulminated against the “so-called experts” who had examined the scraps of ‘the
bomb, sneering that “half of them were here for their share of the gold bag of the state”. It was a complaint about
expert witness that echoes in courtrooms to the present day.

 Arthur Perry case: Date: 1937; Location: New York City; Significance: So many factors were combined in this case that
it has come to be regarded as an American detection classic. It is unnerving to consider the possible outcome of this
case had not happened to work late that night. Without the twin interventions of fate and forensic science, it is
entiirely conceivable that he may well have taken Perry’s place in the electric chair.

 Hitler Diaries case: Date: 1981; Location: Hamburg, West Germany; Significance: History’s greatest publishiing fraud
was first legitimized and then exposed by scientific analysis. In all, through outright swindle, royalties, fees, lost
advertising, and sundry other commitments, the Hitler Diaries were estimated to have cost Stern more than twenty
million marks (sixteen million dollars). The cost in careers, reputations, and personal humiliation was incalculable.

 Graham Backhouse case: Date 1984; Location: Horton, England; Significance: This case provides an example of the
interdependence of forensic discipline that helps to solve so many cases. Piece by piece, the magnitude of Backhouse’s
fiendishness became apparent. In early March, he had increased the insurance on Margaret’s life from fifty to a
hundred thousand pounds, waited a few weeks while spreading word of a nonexistent hate campaign, then planted
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the bomb that so nearly killed her. When the attempt failed, and to divert suspicion from himself, he had lured Bedale-
Taylor to his house with the intention of killing him. The seriousness of his self inflicted wounds almost fooled the
authorities, but he had underestimated the astonishing scope of modern forensic detection. On February 18, 1985,
Backhouse learned the price he would have to pay for that arrogance-two term of life imprisonment.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DOCUMENTS

Documents record man’s life. Officially, his birth certificate signal’s man’s existence on Earth. Corollary, thereto, his
death certificate writes finish to his stay on earth. However, it is not uncommon to note documents other than these two
indicating man’s birth and death. Long before a child’s birth, we may find an intimate note between Mr. and Mrs. Dela Cruz
she had started conceiving her subsequent pre-natal check up with the Doctor; the hospital’s certification of the delivery of
a boy or girl Dela Cruz, all these proceeds the issuance of the birth certificate, yet are poignant examples of the finds or
man’s repose. The last will and testament, the obituary, the tombstone with the inscriptions epitaphs, all those are
documents testifying to his death.

Man’s life does not center alone on his birth nor on his death. The intervening period opens for us more documents,
reams of them. Take the Doctor’s notes on the mother’s postnatal visits with the child, the first inculation, subsequent ones
with the reams of papers; notebooks, books report, cards, excuse slips, followed by an array of diplomas from kindergarten,
primary; elementary, high school, college and perhaps post graduate courses. While studying, the more serious love notes
and not to far behind the better proposing marriage and finally the inking of the marriage bond via the marriage contract
and certificate. This brings us back to where we started. The conception, pre-natal visits and birth of a new generation.

Again, life is not all schooling nor marriage. Man must find work to feed his family. Thus, we find him filling up
applications for employment. He is accepted by a company, swears him in and he receives his appointment papers. At the
end of every week or every fifteenth and thirtieth of the month, man signs the payroll and receives his paycheck or cash as
the case maybe. The longer he stays the more the payrolls and pay checks. He goes up the ladder of success and the more
papers and documents he encounters. His membership in the Lions or the Jaycees or the Kiwanis or the Knights of
Columbus or the Freemasonry must be accomplished. He must sign this and that communication paper. As he grows older,
he comes across his retirement papers and receives his pension checks. As the shadows of life finally set upon man, the final
document testifying to his demises is the death certificate. These, in a nutshell amplify the importance of documents in
man’s life.

General Definition of Terms

 Document
 Any material containing marks, symbols, or signs either visible, partially visible that may present or ultimately convey a
meaning to someone, maybe in the form of pencil, ink writing, trypewriting, or printing on paper.
 The term “document” applies to writings; to words printed, lithographed, or photographed; to maps or plans; to seals,
plates, or even stones on which inscriptions are cut or engraved.
 In its plural form, “documents” may mean; deeds, agreements, title, letters, receipts, and other written instruments
used to prove a fact.
 Latin word “documentum”, means lesson or example
 In Medieval Latin “instruction, or official paper”
 French word “docere”, means to teach
 The Supreme Court defines Document as a deed, instrument or other authorized paper by which something is proved,
evidence or set forth.

According to Microsoft Encarta Reference Library (as a noun):

1. Formal piece of writing
2. Object containing information
3. Computer file

As a verb:
1. Record information in or on media
2. Support a claim with evidence

 Questioned
 Any material which some issue has been raised or which is under scrutiny.

 Questioned Document
 One in which the facts appearing therein may not be true, and are contested either in whole or part with respect to its
authenticity, identity, or origin. It may be a deed, contract, will, election ballots, marriage conitract, check, visas,
application form, check writer, certificates, etc.
 It suggests that there is an argument or controversy over the document.

 Questioned Document Examination

 It is the act of making a close and critical study of any material.
 It includes microscopic, visual, photographic and ultraviolet examinations.
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 Disputed Document
 A term suggesting that there is an argument or controversy over the document, and strictly speaking this is true
meaning. In this text, as well as through prior usage, however, “disputed document” and “questioned document” are
used interchangeably to signify a document that is under special scrutiny.

 Standard Document
 Are condensed and compact set of authentic specimens which, if adequate and proper, should contain a cross section
of the material from a known source.
 In questioned documents investigation, we mean those things whose origins are known and can be proven and which
can be legally used as examples to compare with other matters in question. Usually a standard consist of the known
handwriting of a person such case, “standard” has the same meaning as is understood by the word “specimen” of
handwriting.

 Exemplar
 A term used by some document examiners and attorneys to characterize known material. Standard is the older term.

 Holographic Document
 Any document completely written and signed by, one person; also known as a holograph. In a number of jurisdiction a
holgraphic will can be probated without anyone having witnessed its execution.

 Reference Collection
 Material compiled andorganized by the document examiner to assist him in answering special questions.
 Reference collections of typewriting, check writing specimens, inks, pens, pencils, and papers are frequently
maintained.

LEGAL ASPECT OF DOCUMENTS

A. LEGAL BASIS OF DOCUMENTS:

1. In the case of People vs. Moreno, CA, 338 O.G. 119: any written document by which a right is established or an obligation
is extinguised.
2. In the case of People vs. Nillosquin, CA, 48 O.G. 4453: every deed or instrument executed by person by which some
disposition or agreement is proved, evidenced or setforth.
3. In relation to Criminal Jurisprudence under the Best Evidence rule: any physical embodiment of information or ideas; e.g.
a letter, a contract, a receipt, a book of account, a blur print, or an X-ray plate (Black’s Law Dictionary).

B. KINDS OF DOCUMENT:

1. Public Document - notarized by a notary public or competent public official with solemnities required by law. (Cacnio vs.
Baens, 5 Phil. 742)
2. Official Document - issued by the government or its agents or its officers having the authority to do so and the offices,
which in accordance with their creation, they are authorized to issue and be issued in the performance of their duties.
3. Private Document - executed by a private person without the intervention of a notary public or of any person legally
authorized, by which documents, some disposition or agreement is proved, evidenced or set forth (US vs Orera, 11 Phil.
596)
4. Commercial Document - executed in accordance with the Code of Commerce or any Mercantile Law, containing
disposition of commercial rights or obligations.
5. Electronic Document (E-Document) - exist only in electronic form such as data stored on a computer, network, back-up,
archive or other storage media. Examples of documents subjectcs to e-discovery are e-mails, instant message, e-calendars,
audio files, data on handheld devices, animation, metadata, graphics, photographs, spreadsheets, websites, drawings and
other types of digital data. (Governed by RA 8792).

WRITINGS WHICH DO NOT CONSTITUTE DOCUMENTS

- based on some Supreme Court Rulings.

1. A draft of a Municipal payroll which is not yet approved by the proper authority (People vs. Camacho, 44 Phil. 484).
2. Mere blank forms of official documents, the spaces of which are not filled up (People vs. Santiago, CA, 48 O.G. 4558).
3. Pamphlets or books which do not evidence any disposition or agreement are not documents but are mere merchandise
(People vs. Agnis, 47 Phil. 945).

CLASSES OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

1. Documents with questioned signatures.

2. Questioned documents alleged to have been containing fraudulent alterations.
3. Questioned or disputed holographic wills.
a. Holographic Will - will entirely written in the handwriting of the testator.
b. Notarial Will - signed by the testator acknowledge before a notary public with 3 witnesses.
4. Documents investigated on the question of typewriting.
a. With a view of ascertaining their source
b. With a view of ascertaining their date
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c. With a view of determining whether or not they contain fraudulent alterations or substituted pages.
5. Questioned documents on issues of their age or date.
6. Questioned documents on issues of materials used in their production.
7. Documents or writings investigated because it is alleged that they identify some persons through handwriting.
a. Anonymous and disputed letters, and
b. Superscriptions, registrations and miscellaneous writings.

TYPES OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

The most common questioned documents are:

1. Documents with disputed signatures, such as checks, notes, receipts, contracts, wills, deeds, agreements and similar
instruments.
2. Documents with disputed handwriting, such as those in which the text is questioned for identity.
3. Documents disputed on the question of their date or age.
4. Documents containing alleged fraudulent alterations or changes, such as changing the date or adding figures, or altering
any other part of the text.
5. Documents on the question of trypewriting, such as ascertaining the source, or determining the identity or differences of
two or more typed documents.
6. Documents in question with genuine signature and fraudulent text.

THREE CLASSES OF SIGNATURE

1. The formal or complete signature

2. The informal or cursory signature
3. The careless scribble or abstract signature

Basis of Handwriting and signature analysis

Objectives:
 Understand the guiding principles in handwriting analysis.
 Identify the different conditions which create changes in the handwriting of a person.

Principles of Handwriting Analysis

1. No two writers write exactly alike.
2. The physical writing condition and position of the person including his writing instrument may affect the
handwriting characteristics but they do not confine all its identifying elements.
3. The combination of handwriting characteristics including those derived from form and writing movements are
essential elements of identification.
4. Individuality in handwriting can only be determined through comparative examination with the standard written or
prepared under comparable condition.
5. Similarity does not mean identity.
6. Complete identity means definite forgery.
7. Writing was written by one person when there is a sufficient number of identical writing habits and identical primary
controlling characteristics and addition, the absence of divergent characteristics.
8. Writing was not written by one person when there is a sufficient number of divergent writing characteristics and the
absence of identical primary controlling characteristics.

Terminologies related to handwriting identification and examination

Objectives:
 Identify the different elements of handwriting and stroke.
 Understand the terminologies relevant in handwriting analysis and examination
 Illustrate and describe the different characteristics in handwriting and stroke structures.

1. Alignment - the relation of the parts of the whole of writing or line of individual letters in words to the baseline.

2. Form - the writer’s chosen writing style.

3. Angular Form - Sharp, straight strokes that are made by stopping the one and changing direction before continuing.

4. Arcade Forms - Forms that look like arches; rounded on top and open at the bottom.
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5. Garland Forms - A cup like connected form that is open at the top and rounded on the bottom.

6. Bow - the part of the letter or character of signature or handwriting which formed like a bow of an arrow or simply a
curved stroke aligned in a vertical direction.

7. Collation - side by side comparison.

8. Comparison - the act of setting two or more items side by side to weigh their identifying qualities.

9. Disguised writing - a writer may deliberately try to alter his usual writing habits of hiding his identity.

10. Down strokes - the movement of the pen toward the writer.

11. Graphoanalysis - the study of handwriting based on the two fundamental strokes, the curve and the straight strokes

12. Graphometry - analysis and comparison with measurement.

13. Graphology - the art of determining character disposition and amplitude of a person from the study of handwriting.

14. Letter Space - The amount of space left between letters.

15. Line Direction - it is the movement of the baseline.

16. Line Quality - the overall character of the ink lines from the beginning to the ending strokes.

17. Line Space - the amount of space left between lines.

18. Margins - the amount of space left around the writing on all four sides.

Movements in Handwriting
 Finger Movement - the thumb, the first, the second and slightly the third finger are in actual motion.
 Hand Movement - produced by the movement or action of the whole hand with the wrist as the center of
attraction.
 Forearm Movement - the movement of the shoulder, hand and arm with the support of the table.
 Wholearm Movement - action of the entire arm without resting.

19. Natural Writing - any specimen of writing executed normally without any attempt to control or alter its identifying
habits and its usual quality and execution.

20. Natural Variation - these are normal or usual deviations found between repeated specimens of any individual
handwriting.

21. Pen emphasis - the act of intermittently forcing the pen against the paper surfaces.

22. Pen Hold - the place where the writer grasps the barrel of the pen and the angle at which he holds it.

23. Pen position - relationship between the pen point and the paper. The orientation of the writing instrument.

24. Pen pressure - the average force with which the pen contacts the paper.
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25. Print Script - a creative combination of printing and cursive writing.

12 Characteristics of Handwriting
1. Line Quality
2. Spacing
3. Size Consistency
4. Continuos
5. Connecting Letters
6. Letters Complete
7. Cursive & Printed Letters
8. Pen Pressure
9. Slant
10. Line Habits
11. Fancy Curls or Loops
12. Places or Crosses on t’s & dots on i’s

FORGERY
- is a purposeful attempt to make a fraudulent copy of something, whether it is a signature, money or a piece of art.

Fraudulent - the origin is not what it is presented to be.

 Documents that have been established as not genuine and that actual fraud has been determined.
 Legally, forgery requires the element of intent to defraud.
 Not all non-authentic signatures are signed with the intent to defraud.

History of Forgery
The crime of forgery has been practiced since ancient times where writing existed. The folowing are important events
in the history of forgery:
 80 BC - Romans prohibited the falsification of documents that transferred land to heirs.
 1726 - False endorsement on an unsealed private document became a crime punishable by pillory, fines,
imprisonment and even death.
 1823 - The United States enacted the principal federal forgery statute that prohibited false making, forgery or
alteration of any writing for the purpose of obtaining financial gain.
 1962 - The American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code simplified and defined the elements of forgery and became the
standard for defining the crime forgery.

Indications of Genuineness
 To identify a signature as genuine or imitation, known genuine signatures of the person whose signature is in question
is needed.
 To identify an unknown writer, the examiner needs known writing sample of suspects.
 These known samples establish a writer’s unique identifying characteristics and variations. These are called
exemplars/standards.

Features of genuine writing

1. Smooth, rapid, nonstop and freee-flowing pen movement.
2. Sweeping and unbroken starling and ending strokes in rounded forms.
3. Sweeping, misplaced and mishapen i-donts and t-crosses.
4. Joining of initials or words.
5. Wide writing and spacing.
6. Simplification of forms such as capitals.
7. Letters tapered illegibly toward the end or words.
8. Marked differrence in pressure on upstrokes and downstrokes.
9. Delicate pressure at beginning and ending strokes to letters.
10. Absense of carefully made repair and correcting strokes.
11. Letter formations and pen movements that show close similarity to the exemplars’ letter formations and pen
movements.
12. Flying start and flying finished or flourishing strokes.
13. Vanishing terminal stroke
14. Hiatus
15. Broken and unfinished signature
16. Careless correction or careless retouching.

Generally speaking, the more rapidly the writing is made, the more natural it is. The absence of approach strokes to certain
letters could also be indications of naturalness when found in larger bodies of writing.

Although the genuine writing of aged, ill or unskilled writers can be slow, tremulous and laboriously written, it will usually
show a naturalness and cosistency that can be recognized by the experienced examiner.
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Genaral Indications of non-genuineness

1. Hesitation
2. Pen stop and unsual places
3. Abrupt change in the direction of stoke
4. Non-continuous of stroke
5. Tremors or tremolos movement
6. Lack of variation of pen pressure
7. Blunt initial and terminal stroke
8. Unnatural penstop and open lift
9. Careful retouching
10. Concealed junction connection
11. Defective line quality
12. Presence of indentation and traces of carbon (in case of traced forgery)

In order to arrive in a reliable conclusion, the examiner needs genuine documents for comparison to the questioned
document. The known materials needed for comparison purposes are known as STANDARDS.

STANDARDS:
 Are condensed and compact-set of authentic specimen which is adequate and proper, should contain a cross section
of the material from its source.
 Collected and Requested Standards.

FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE SELECTION OF STANDARDS

1. Amount of standards
2. Similarity of subject matter
3. Relatives of the QD and SD

WHAT ARE THE DO’S AND DON’TS IN COLLECTING EXEMPLARS

1. Don’t rely on too little writing.
 20-25 signatures
 4-5 pages of handwriting

2. Don’t rely exclusively on writing that differs significantly from the questioined one.
3. Do collect similar samples
4. Don’t rely on documents recently written if the comparison documents were written many years ago.
5. Do collect standards dated at approximately the same time as the questioned document.
6. Don’t compare writing written under abnormal conditions with normal writing.
7. Do collect documents that duplicate the writing environment.
8. Do instruct the writer to obtain similar exemplars.

Methods od forgery
1. Simulated forgery- one made by copying a genuine signature.
2. Traced forgery - one made by tracing a genuine signature.
- the forger traces the outline of a genuine signature by some tracing process.
Kinds of Tracing Process:
1. Carbon Process - forgery is done with the use of a carbon paper and the forger traces over the genuine signature.
2. Identification Process - this is done by tracing with sufficient pressure over the authentic signature and tracing the
depression on the forged document. This process creates a signature with signs of reacting and pressure in writing.
3. Projection or Transmitted Light Process - forgery is done by putting the genuine document on a glass surface under a
strong light, the forger retraces/ the general outline on the forged document. This process creates poor line quality,
stopping in unusual places.

3. Blind / Simple/ Random forgery - made without a model or a reference signature.

Some methods used for illustrating traced forgery:

a) Actual measurement of the signatures to illustrate identity
b) Superimposition of the signatures to illustrate identity
c) Taking photographs of the signatures and producing transparencies as to easily superimpose one over the other

Indications of forgery:
a. Hesitations and pen stops at unusual places.
b. Abrupt change of direction of lines showing uncertainty of movement.
c. Concealed or hidden joining.
d. Blunt initial and terminal stroke.
e. Misplaced shadings.
f. Lack of variation of pen pressure.
g. Defective line quality.
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h. Unnecessary, careful patching, or retouching.

i. Tremors.
j. Presence of carbon, pencil, or indeed outline along the strokes of linked patterns.

Definitions:
1. Tremors - a writing weakness portrayed irregular shaky strokes.
2. Stroke - a series of lines or curves within a single letter.
3. Hesitation - is the irregular thickening which produces when the writing slows down or stops.
4. Pen Stop - is a temporary pause or halt in between writing strokes.
5. Line Quality - referes to the appearance of a writing stroke.
6. Patching- retouching or going back over a defective portion of the writing stroke.

ALTERATION
 is the change made on a document after its original preparation.
 A change that appear on document should not be readily considered fraudulent; the alteration should be considered
in a thorough and careful manner to be able to determine the reasonable facts. It is therefore, become necessary to
distinguised which is fraudulent from that of genuine alteration.
 An obvious change often is evidence not of fraud but of genuineness. A delicate and partly concealed change may be
very suspicious and therefore it is fraudulent.
 Fraudulent changes naturally are made in a hidden manner and they may never be discovered, if, special attention is
not directed in this manner.
 Alteration can be generally seen with the aid of a good magnifying glass and the help of special lighting.

Altered Document - is one which contains some change either as an addition or deletion.

Kinds of Alteration
1. Erasure - the removal of writing, typewriting, or printing from a document.

Two Kinds of Erasures

 Mechanical Erasure or Abrasive Erasure - The writing is effaced by wrubbing off with a rubber eraser or scratching out
with a knife or other sharp intrument.
 Chemical Erasure - the writing is effaced by the use of ink eradicator or other bleaching solutions.

How to detect mechanical or abrasive eraser eradicator?

 Loosening or disturbance of paper fibers and this creates a feathering effect on the link.
 Thinning out of the effected area resulting to transparency.
 Appearance of fibers has glassy substance on outward up-trust position.

Principle in Alteration:

A change that appear on a document should not be readily considered fraudulent; the alteration should be considered
in a thorough, careful manner to be able to determine what the reasonable inference is from all the facts. It is therefore,
become necessary to distinguish which is fraudulent from that which is genuine alteration.

“An obvious, necessary change in a document often is evidence not of fraud but of genuineness.”

ALTERATION WHICH SPEAKS THE TRUTH IS NOT FALSIFICATION:

The defendant, a priest of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, was called on in the performance of his duties to execute an affidavit.
When asked to produce his personal cedula, it was observed that the age therein had been altered, the figure “23” having
been changed to “25”. It appeared that the defendant’s real age was 25. He was prosecuted for falsification of his cedula,
for altering the age appearing therein.

Held: The defendant did not commit any crime in changing his age. He simply made the cedula speak the truth. It was
correction, not falsification. (US vs. Mateo, 25 Phil.234; Arriola vs. Republic, 103 Phil. 730)

A delicate and partly concealed change may be very suspicious and therefore, fraudulent.

Fraudulent changes naturally are made in a hidden manner and they may never be discovered if special attention is
not directed to this matter.

2. Obliteration
- the blotting out or smearing over of writing to make the original invisible or undecipherable.
- if the two inks differ, however, photography with infrared-sensitive film may reveal the original writing.
- if an obliteration is done with the same ink as we used to write the original material, recovery is usually impossible.

3. Addition - any matter made part of the document after its original preparation.
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4. Subtraction
- any matter rubbed out, strike out and/or scratched out after its original preparation.

5. Interlineation or insertion
- the term insertion and interlineations include the addition of writing and other materials between lines or paging or
the addition of writing and other materials between lines or paging or the addition of whole pages to a document.

6. Smeared-over writing
-often accomplished by covering or smearing over original writing with an opaque substance.

Disguised Writing
any deliberate attempt to alter one’s handwriting to prevent recognition. Anonymous letters, backmail attempts,
ransom notes, threats, and similar documents are created by writers who feel their altered handwriting cannot be
attributed to them.

Methods of Disguised
1. Change in slant
2. Altered letter forms
3. Use of block letters
4. Other hand writing
5. Change of writing instrument
6. Change of speed

Signs of Disguised
1. Inconsistencies within the writing
2. Poor rhythm
3. Erratic movement followed by smooth rhythmic writing
4. Slowness and hesitation

Solution of a disguised writing problem

1. Collection and stuy of adequate standards which contain the fixed, occasional, rare, and accidental characteristics of the
writer. Frequently the most difficult part of a case is locating good specimens.
2. Study of questioned writing to determine if it is normal handwriting containing natural variations or if it is disguised.
3. Comparison of questioned with standard writing methodically listing identifying (or non-identifying) characteristics of the
handwriting, composition, arrangement, ink, writing instrument, paper, etc.

BASIC DEFINITIONS:

The examination of documents. Like most technical subjects, has developed a specialized vocabulary. Many of the
terms have been derived from related fields such as penmanship, the typewriting and printing trades, and paper and ink
manufacturing, but others have come into existence in order to describe concisely something unique to document
examination.

General terms:

1. CHARACTERISTICS - these are property or mark which distinguishes, and in document examination commonly refers to as
identifying details.
2. CLASS CHARACTERISTICS - characteristics of a writing that are common to a group of writers.
3. COMPARISON- it is the act of setting two or more items side by side to weigh their identifying details.
4. CONCLUSION - a scientific conclusion results from relating observed facts by logical and common sense reasoning.
5. DOCUMENT EXAMINER - one who studies scientifically the details and elements of documents in order to identify their
source or to discover other facts concerning them.
6. EXPERTS WITNESS - this is the legal term used to describe a witness, who by reason of his special technical training is
permittef to express an opinion regarding the issue or a centain aspect of the issue that is involved in a lawsuit. His purpose
in court is to interpret technical information in his particular specially in order to assist the court in administering justice.
7. GRAPHOLOGY - the art of attempting to interpret the character or personality of an individual from his handwriting.
8. INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS - characteristics which are highly personal or peculiar and serve to distinguish one’s
handwriting.
9. NATIONAL VARIATIONS - these are normal or usual deviations found between repeated specimen of any individual’s
handwriting.
10. OBLIQUE or SIDELIGHT EXAMINATION - an examination with the illumination so controlled that is grazes or strikes the
surface of the document from one side at a very low angle.
11. QUALIFICATIONS - professional experience, education and ability of a document examiner. Before he is permitted to
testify as an expert witness, the court must rule that he is qualified.
12. REFERENCE COLLECTION - materials compiled and organized by the document examiner to assist him in answering
special questions.
13. SAMPLE - a selected representative portion of a whole document.
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14. STANDARDS - these are condensed and compact set of authentic specimen, which if adequate and proper should
contain a true cross-section of a writing from a known source.
15. TRANSMITTED LIGHT EXAMINATION - in an examination of this kind, the document is viewed with the illumination
behind it and the light passing through the paper.

Handwriting terminology:

16. BASELINE - the ruled or imaginary line upon which the writings rests.
17. CURSIVE WRITING - writing in which the letters for the most part are joined together.
18. DISGUISED WRITING - the deliberate alteration of the usual writing habit in hope of hiding his identity.
19. GUIDED SIGNATURE- a signature which is executed while the writter’s hand is steadied in any way. Under the law of
most jurisdiction, such a signature authenticates a legal document, provided it shows that the writer requested the
assistance.
20. HANDLETTERING - any disconnected style of handwriting in which each letter is written separately.
21. HABIT - a writing habit is any repeated element or detail which may serve to distinguish one’s handwriting.
22. PATCHING - retouching or going back over a defective portion of a writing stroke.
23. RETRACING - any stroke which goes back over another writing stoke. In natural writing, there may be instances in which
the pen doubles back over the same course.
24. SHADING - is a widening of the ink stroke due to added pressure on the writing instrument.
25. SLANT - is the angle or inclination of the letters relative to the base line.
26. SPURIOUS SIGNATURE - a fraudulent signature in which there was no attempt at simulation or limitation.

Alteration terminology:

27. ADDITION - any matter made a part of the document after its original preparation.
28. ALTERED DOCUMENT - is one which contains some change, either as an addition or deletion.
29. DECIPHERMENT - the process of making out what is illegible or what has been effaced.
30. ERASURE - the removal of writing, typewriting or printing from a document.
31. RESTORATION - it describes any process in which erased writing is developed or brought out again on the document
itself.
32. SECRET INK - materials used for writing which is not visible until treated by some developing process or substance.

What is a Document Examiner? Who is qualified as a Document Examiner?

What is an Expert Witness? Who is qualified as an Expert Witness?

What is the difference between the two?