Document and Handwriting Analysis

1. Document and HandwritingAnalysis Questioned Documents Basics

2. Questioned Documents * Involves the examination of handwriting, ink, paper, etc. to ascertain source or authenticity • Examples include letters, checks, licenses, contracts, wills, passports • Investigations include: verification, authentication, characterizing papers, pigments, and inks

3. Related Fields • Historical Dating—the verification of age and value of a document or object • Fraud Investigation- focuses on the money trail and criminal intent • Paper and Ink Specialists—date, type, source, and/or catalogue various types of paper, watermarks, ink, printing/copy/fax machines, computer cartridges • Forgery Specialists—analyze altered, obliterated, changed, or doctored documents and photos • Typewriting Analysts—determine origin, make, and models • Computer Crime Investigators—investigate cybercrime

4. Evidence • Class characteristics may include general types of pens, pencils or paper. • Individual characteristics may include unique, individual handwriting characteristics; trash marks from copiers, or printer serial numbers.

5. Forensic Document Examination involves the analysis and comparison of questioned documents with known material (exemplars) in order to identify whenever possible, the author or origin of the questioned document. Document Examination

6. Document examiners • Documents of known authorship or origin are a must in the investigation of document examination • Investigator will collect exemplars an authentic sample used for comparison purposes, such as handwriting

7. Collecting documents • Age of document compared to questioned documents Satisfactory is within 2-3 years • Handwritings may have to be collected voluntarily or by court order • Not a violation of 4th (States vs. Mara – illegal search and seizure) or 5th (Gilbert vs. California – self-incrimination) amendments

8. Document and HandwritingAnalysis Handwriting

9. Handwriting Handwriting analysis involves two phases: • The hardware—ink, paper, pens, pencils, typewriter, printers • Visual examination of the writing

10. Handwriting Identification • Analysis of the “knowns” with a determination of the characteristics found in the known • Analysis of the questioned or unknown writing and determination of its characteristics • Comparison of the questioned writing with the known writing. • Evaluation of the evidence, including the similarities and dissimilarities between the “questioned” and “known” writing • The document examiner must have enough exemplars to make a determination of whether or not the two samples match.

11. Handwriting Samples • The subject should not be shown the questioned document • The subject is not told how to spell words or use punctuation • The subject should use materials similar to those of the document • The dictated text should match some parts of the document • The subject should be asked to sign the text • Always have a witness

12. Unusual Letter Formation Shading or pen pressure Slant Baseline Habits Flourishes or embellishments Diacritic Placement Line Quality Word and Letter Spacing Letter Comparison Pen Lifts Connecting strokes Beginning and ending strokes Handwriting Characteristics

13. Document and HandwritingAnalysis Counterfeiting and Forgeries

14. Counterfeiting – false documents or other items copied for the purpose of deception ex. Travelers checks, bonds and currency

15. Counterfeiting • The Secret Service was created in 1865 to combat counterfeiting by Abe Lincoln • In 1996 the government starting adding new security features to make incidences of counterfeiting more difficult. 1. in past could scan and color print 2. today added features prevent currency from being copied 3. special paper 4. government continues to change the design to make it more difficult to copy.

16. DISTINGUISHING FROM COUNTERFIT Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

17. Pass Turns yellow Fail Black or dark brown $ AT THE CHEKOUT COUNTER • How $ is Tested • Iodine solution pen

19. 1.The portrait is more lifelike than on counterfeit money. • 2.There are fine lines, smooth and unbroken lines printed behind the president and behind the building on the reverse. • 3.There is a polymer thread woven in the bill. The thread in the $100 bill reads "USA 100" and the $50 bill reads "USA 50". The thread can't be reproduced with copiers or printers but is visible when the bill is held up to a light or appears yellow when in ultraviolet light. Genuine bills also have red and blue threads embedded in the paper. On counterfeit money the lines look like they're printed on the paper but on genuine bills the lines appear to be in the paper. • 4.There is a watermark or "shadow" to the right of the face on the bill. It isn't visible unless the bill is held up to the light. • 5.Color shifting ink is used for the number in the lower right hand corner on the front of the bill. The ink appears green until the bill is held at an angle, then the ink looks black. The ink is also "never dry" ink, which means that it can be rubbed off. Sometimes; however, the ink on counterfeit money can also rub off. On the $50, the number 50 is printed in large print. • 6.On the $100 bill microprinted words are written around the portrait. To the naked eye it looks like a black line but under a microscope the words "The United States of America" can be read. On the $50 bill, "50" is written around the portrait and "United States of America" is printed in Grant's collar. • 7.Genuine bills have the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals. The saw-tooth points on the seal are clear, distinct, and sharp. The seals on counterfeit money may have uneven, blunt, or broken points. • 8.Along with the seals on each bill there's a serial number printed in the same color ink as the seal. Numbers and letters are evenly spaced.

21. Forgery – the process used to make, alter or falsify a person’s signature or another aspect of a document with intent to deceive another. Fraudulence – when material gain accompanies a forgery

22. Methods of Forgery • Simulated forgery one made by copying a genuine signature • Traced forgery  one made by tracing a genuine signature • Blind forgery made without a model of the signature

23. Check Fraud Forgery Counterfeit Alterations Paper Money Counterfeit Identity Social Security Driver’s license Credit Cards Theft of card or number Art—imitation with intent to deceive Microscopic examination Electromagnetic radiation Chemical analysis Literary Books, letters Contracts—alterations of contracts, medical records Types of Forgery

24. Mickey Mantle's known signature is on top; the FBI determined that the bottom two signatures are forgeries. Note the shaky line quality and variations in the starting and ending strokes Photo courtesy FBI - Forensic Science Communications handwritinganalysis.ca

25. Famous Forgersand Forgeries • Major George Byron (Lord Byron forgeries) • Thomas Chatterton (Literary forgeries) • John Payne Collier (Printed forgeries) • Dorman David (Texas Declaration of Independence) • Mark Hofmann (Mormon, Freemason forgeries) • William Henry Ireland (Shakespeare forgeries) • Clifford Irving (Howard Hughes forgery) • Konrad Kujau (Hitler Diaries) • James Macpherson (Ossian manuscript) • George Psalmanasar (Literary forgery) • Alexander Howland Smith (Historical documents) Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

26. Technology 1. Initially – done with naked eye, handheld lens or microscope. 2. Biometric signature pad – identity authentification. Recognizes signature based on speed, pressure and rhythm of signing. 3. Computerized analysis – faster and more objective. a. FISH (Forensic Information System for Handwriting) – scan in documents for comparative analysis. Can be compared to other handwriting in the database.

27. Document and HandwritingAnalysis Alterations and Obliterations

28. Obliterations / Alterations • Obliterations removal of writing by physical or chemical means • Alterations  change of a written or printed portion of a document, usually accomplished after obliterating or masking the original information

29. Erasures • Erasures • done with Indian rubber, sand paper, razor blades, or knives • tries to scratch the paper’s surface • disturbs upper fibers of the paper • can be seen via microscopy with direct light or oblique light (from the side)

30. Chemical Erasures • Chemical erasures • use oxidizing agents (like Chlorine, hydrogen peroxide) • Causes reaction which would remove ink from paper • causes discoloration in the paper • can be seen with ultraviolet light

31. Charred Documents • Any document that has become darkened and brittle through exposure to fire or excessive heat • Infrared photography can be used • Reflecting light of ink compared to paper

32. Indented writing • Partially visible depressions appearing on a sheet of paper underneath the one on which the visible writing was done • Electrostatic detection is a common tool

33. I Really Enjoy Hating Black Licorice.

34. Document and HandwritingAnalysis Chromatography

35. Ink A pigmented liquid or paste used especially for writing or printing Chromatography a method of physically separating the components of inks There are manytypes • We will focus on Paper Chromatography

36. Parts of paper chromatography • Solvent (or mobile phase)  liquid that will travel up the paper and separate the components of the mixture • Water • Acetone • Stationary phase media through which the solvent will travel • Filter paper

37. http://chem.wisc.edu/deptfiles/genchem/lab/labdocs/modules/paprchrom/paprchromdesc.htmhttp://chem.wisc.edu/deptfiles/genchem/lab/labdocs/modules/paprchrom/paprchromdesc.htm

38. Retention Factor (Rf) A number that represents how far a compound travels in a particular solvent It is determined by measuring the distance the compound traveled and dividing it by the distance the solvent traveled.

39. Paper Chromatography of Ink Two samples of black ink from two different manufacturers have been characterized using paper chromatography.