DOCUMENT

AND
HANDWRITING
ANALYSIS
 Forgery has been
practiced since the
beginning of writing.
Under Roman law,
the Code of Justinian
enacted in AD 539
stated that The code ordered
Short Trivia! handwriting should that experts be used.
be compared in the
case of public
documents and
private instruments
where an advantage
could be gained.
 Document examiners verify handwriting and
signatures: authenticate documents
Documents as characterize papers, pigments and inks used in
writing utensils, instruments and copying
Evidence machines; restore erased and obliterated
writing; and even determine the relative age of
documents and inks.
 Individual Characteristic:
like individual evidence, qualities that cause the subject to be unique.

 The combinations of such unique features give our handwriting

IS individual characteristics that differentiate one person’s writing
from another’s. The way we write becomes so embedded in our
HANDWRITING subconscious that it is actually quite difficult to disguise. Given
enough evidence and exemplars, a document expert may be able
REALLY to present handwriting as individual evidence in a court of law
UNIQUE?  Class Characteristics-writing habits learned as kids by copying
examples of letters. These habits carry over into adulthood

Exemplars:
a known sample that is used for comparison; also referred to as a
specimen.
  Require many pages of writing
 Writing a set of dictation
 Suspect should sit in a comfortable chair
What steps without distractions.
can be taken  Never aid the writing of a suspect
to minimize  Suspect given a pen and paper similar to the
deception? questioned document
 Dictated text should contain similar word and
letter combinations.
 Dictated text should be written at least 3 times.
 Signatures should be requested on about 20-30
checks.
 ANALYSIS OF
HANDWRITING AND
HANDPRINTING
 To determine whether a
signature or writing
sample is authentic, a
document examiner will
generally examine 12
characteristics
1. Line quality: Are the
lines smooth, free-
flowing, and rhythmic, or
shaky, nervous, and
wavering?
2. Spacing of words
and letters:
Examine the
average amount of
space between
words and letters.
Is the spacing
consistent in the
questioned and
known documents?
3. Ratio of relative height,
width, and size of letters:
What are the overall
height, width, and size of
the letters in both the
known and questioned
documents? Are they
consistent?
4. Pen lifts and
separations: Check
how the writer
stops to form new
letters and begin
words. Forgeries
may have pen lifts
or separations in
unusual places, for
instance within a
single letter.
5. Connecting
strokes: Compare
how capital
letters are
connected to
lowercase letters
and how strokes
connect between
letters and
between words.
6. Beginning and
ending strokes:
Compare how the
writer begins and
ends a word,
number, or letter.
Are the strokes
straight, curled,
long, or short? Are
they made on the
upstroke or
downstroke?
7. Unusual letter
formation: Look
for unusual letter
formation; for
instance, letters
written
backward, letters
with a tail, or
unusual capitals.
8. Shading or pen
pressure:
Individuals use
different amounts
of pressure with a
pen or pencil,
making the lines
lighter or darker,
narrower or wider.
Check for pressure
on the downward
and upward
strokes.
9. Slant: Does the
writing slant to
the left or right,
or is it straight up
and down? Are
some letters
consistently
slanted more or
less than others?
10. Baseline
habits: Does the
writing tend to
follow a straight
horizontal line, or
move downward
or upward? Is it
above or below
the baseline?
11.Flourishes or
embellishments:
Are there any
fancy letters,
curls, loops,
circles, double
loops, or
underlines?
12. Placement of diacritics:
Check the crossing of t’s and
dotting of i’s, j’s, or any other
letters or punctuation marks.
Is the cross on the t long in
proportion to the stem? Is it
located to the left or right of
the stem? Are the i’s dotted
above or to the right or left
of the stem?

Diacritics:
the crossing of t’s or dotting of i’s and j’s
  Insufficient number of known writing are
available.
 Questioned document only contains a few
words.
What are some  Questioned document is written in a crude
difficulties in manner
handwriting  Questioned document is written in an
comparison? unnatural form
 Natural writing is disguised
 Handwriting is not an exact science since it is
based on the expert analyzers opinion.
  FORGERY- an item prepared with the intent to
deceive or defraud.
 BLIND FORGERY- one made without a model
of the signature.
TYPES OF  SIMULATED FORGERY-one made by copying a
FORGERIES genuine signature.
 TRACED FORGERY- one made by tracing a
genuine signature using a light box, carbon
paper, tracing hard over a genuine signature
and tracing the indentation.
 METHOD OF REMOVAL METHOD OF DETECTION
Erasing with rubber eraser Upper layer of fibers look
or scraping ink off disturbed when viewed
under a microscope
Chemical Method – ink Can be seen using a
OBLITERATIONS eradicator which discolors microscope, UV or IR light.
the ink or makes it invisible
-The removal
Cross outs or overwriting Ink is a mixture of dyes or
writing by physical pigments that can be
or chemical means separated using
chromatography.

Chromatography-
separation of mixtures by
different absorbencies
Infrared
Luminescence-
when inks are
exposed to blue-green
light it absorbs the
light and reradiates
infrared light. It
can be used to detect
is two inks are
present, erasures,
read letters or words
that have been
crossed out.
  An indented impression is left on paper
beneath the primary writing because of the
pressure of the writing utensil
Indentations  Since indentions increase a papers capacity
to hold an electrostatic charge the images
can be developed using an electrostatic
detection apparatus (ESDA). Tones powder
is poured over a charged sheet of plastic
covering the paper will create an image