HandwritingAnalysis,Forgery,andCounterfeiting
ForensicScienceChapter10
Introduction• Documentanalysis– examinationandcomparisonof
questioneddocumentswithknownmaterial.Expertsestablishtheauthenticityofthedocumentsanddetectanychanges,erasures,orobliterationsthatmayhaveoccurred.
• Questioneddocuments– anysignature,handwriting,typewriting,orotherwrittenmarkwhosesourceorauthenticityisindisputeoruncertain.Exs:checks,certificates,wills,passports,licenses,money,letters,contracts,suicidenotes,receipts,lotterytickets.
• DocumentExpert– speciallytrainedpersonwhoscientificallyanalyzeshandwritingandotherfeaturesinadocument,oftentodetectchangesfromtheoriginal.Thisisnotthesameasagraphologist.Agraphologiststudiesthepersonalityofthewriterbasedonhandwritingsamples.Graphologyisnotawidelyacceptedpartofforensics.
History• Likefingerprints,everyperson’shandwritingisuniqueand
personalized.Handwritingisdifficulttodisguiseorforgeandanalysiscanprovideausefultoolinforensicsinexcludingpersonswhendeterminingamatchbetweenknownmaterial(exemplar).
• 1930s,handwritingplayedagreatroleinthetrialofBrunoRichardHauptmann forthekidnappingandmurderofthesonofCharlesLindbergh.Analysisofthemanyransomnotes,alongwithsamples,ledtoHauptmann’sconvictionandexecution.Hauptmann’sinvolvementisstillbeingquestionedduetohandlingofthedocuments.
• Courtshavenotalwaysacceptedhandwritinganalysisasacreditableformofevidence.In1999,theU.S.CourtofAppealsdeterminedthathandwritinganalysisqualifiedasaformofexperttestimony.
HandwritingandForgery• Everyone’shandwritingexhibitsnaturalvariationduetoseveralfactors.Penvs.pencil,marker,orcrayon,mood,age,andspeedcanallcontributetothedifferencewenoticeinourownhandwriting.
• Despitetheseminorvariations,eachpersonhasauniquehandwritingstyle.Slant,curl,andheightcandistinguishouridentity.Adultsshowslightvariation(thebrainhasbeentrained)becausethecharactersareformedasaresultofhabit.(Trythis,write“Ismellgoodfood”whilelookingatyourpaper.Nowwriteitagainwithoutlooking.Thehandwritingshouldstillbeverysimilar,maybeonlycrooked.Neat,huh!)
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Everyone’shandwritingshowsnaturalvariations.Hereare6ofthe12major,specifictraits.
The traits are functions of formatting or of letter or line form. Here are the other 6 of the 12 major, specific traits
CharacteristicsofHandwriting• Handwritingexpertsexamine12majorcategoriesof
exemplars.Thesearefunctionsofletterform,lineform,andformatting.
• Letterform includestheshapeofletters,curveofletters,theangleorslantofletter,proportionalsizeofletters,andtheuseandappearanceofconnectinglinesbetweenletters.(Are“i”sdottedand“t”scrossed?)
• Lineform includesthesmoothnessoflettersandthedarknessofthelinesontheupwardcomparedtothedownwardstroke.Lineformisinfluencedbyspeedandpressureandoccasionallythechoiceofwritingutensil.
• Formatting includesthespacingbetweenletters,thespacingbetweenwordsandlines,theplacementofwordsonaline,andthemargins.
Line quality
Spacing (excessive)
Four signatures from same person demonstrating variation
Low-skilled writer High-skilled writer
Purposely distorted
HandwritingExaminationAnalyzingaHandwritingSample
• Thegoalofforensichandwritinganalysisistoanswerquestionsaboutasuspiciousdocumentanddetermineauthorshipusingavarietyofscientificmethods.“Twowritingsaretheproductofonepersonifthesimilarities…are…[unique]andtherearenofundamentalunexplainabledifferences.”
• Forgeries – documentsmade,adapted,orfalsifiedwiththeintentionofdeceivingsomeone.
• Thereare3basicstepsintheprocessofanalyzingahandwritingsample.1: thequestioneddocumentandthestandards(exemplars)areexaminedanddetectablecharacteristicsarerecorded.Asampleshouldbeobtainedwithoutlettingthepersonknowwhatforifpossible.Greatexemplarswouldbeletters,greetingcards,andnotes.2:Characteristicsofthequestioneditemarecomparedwiththeknownstandard.3: Expertsdeterminewhichcharacteristicsarevaluablefordrawingaconclusionabouttheauthenticityandauthorshipofthequestioneddocument.
• Obviousdifferencesbetweenastandardandaquestioneddocumentwouldshowdifferentauthors.Suchsamplescanbevisuallyeliminatedwithouteverhavingtoassessthelistofhandwritingcharacteristics.
• Similaritiesdonotguaranteecommonauthorship.Sometimescharacteristicsofonepersoncanoccurinanotherperson’shandwriting.
• Documentexpertsmusttakeintoaccountagreatnumberoffactorsandastatisticallysignificantrepetitionofsimilarities intheiranalyses.Proscantellifapersonhastriedtodisguisetheirhandwritingorcopysomeoneelse’s.
• 1:Asuspectshouldnotbeshownthequestioneddocument2:asuspectshouldnotbegivenanyinstructionsaboutpunctuationorspelling3:thepenandpapershouldbesimilartothatofthequestiondocument.
TechnologyUsedinHandwritingAnalysis
• Initialcomparisonsaredonewiththenakedeye,ahandheldlens,oramicroscope.Specializedequipmentcanrevealminordetailsabouthowadocumentwaschanged.Infraredspectroscope candetermineifmorethanonekindofinkwasusedonthedocument(differentinks,differentlightreflections).
• BiometricSignaturePads – anewresearchtool,hasbeendesignedforidentityauthentification.Thiscomputerpadrecognizesyoursignaturebasedonspeed,pressureandrhythmofsigningyourname.
• ComputerAnalysis – thiscanbefasterandmoreobjective.Pressureissubjective,butwhenplacedinacomputer,thepenpressurecanbeobjectivelyanalyzedbytheshadinginthepixels.TheForensicInformationSystemforHandwriting(FISH)databaseismaintained/usedbytheSecretService.Documentsarescannedinanditcanbedeterminedthatnotwowriterspentheirwordsexactlythesamenordotheyhavethesamecombinationofhandwritingcharacteristics.
HandwritingintheCourtroom• Afterbeingexpertlyanalyzed,theexpertwillpreparea
witnessreportandboththedefenseandtheprosecutorwillaskquestionsabouttheanalysis.Theanalyzer,nowonthestandasanexpertwitness(andexpertinhandwriting)willanswerquestionsaboutdocumentcomparisonsandhowguiltorinnocencewasimplied.Manysampleswillbeshowntothejury.Shortcomings in Handwriting
Analysis•One limitation is that the quality of the standards obtained often determines the quality of a comparison analysis. Another limitation could be the effects of mood, age, drugs, fatigue, and illness on a person’s handwriting. Analyzers have to be certified. The American Board of Forensic Document Examiners is one establishment that offers such training for certification. Handwriting is considered a reproducible and peer-reviewed scientific process.
Forgery• Whenamaterialgain,suchasmoney,accompaniesaforgery,
itiscalledfraudulence.Generally,theprimarypurposeofforgingsomethingistoprofitfromthefakeoralteration.
• CheckForgery – Approx.$27million inillegitimatechecksarecashedeachday.Criminalscanalteroracquirechecksinmaywayslikeorderingsomeoneelse’schecksfromadepositslip,directlyalteringacheck,interceptingsomeone’scheck,alteringit,andcashingit,orcreatingforgedchecksfromscratch.Intheirattempttopreventcheckfraud,manybankshopetoeventuallyeliminatechecksaltogether.Fig.10-8inyourbookhasmethodstopreventcheckfraud.
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Preventing Check Forgery Thesearesomemethodsusedtopreventcheckforgery:
LiteraryForgery• Thisreferstoapieceofwriting,suchasanhistoricletteror
manuscript.• Thebestliteraryforgerstrytoduplicatetheoriginal
documents,sothematerialsusedaresimilartothoseusedintheoriginaldocument.Theydothisbycollectingoldpaperoroldbooks.Becausetheprocessofpapermakinghaschanged,itisessentialforforgerstouseagedpapertopassthemicroscopicexaminationtests.Inkshavealsochanged,sointelligentforgerswouldmixtheirowninksfrommaterialthatwouldhavebeenusedatthetime.Writingutensilsandwritingstylesfromtheeraarealsoconsidered.
• Chemicalsmaybeaddedtothepapertoageboththepaperandtheink.Inthe1980s,MarkHofmannmadeseveralforgeriesincluding116pagesofa“lost”Mormondocument.IntheplanningforasecondforgedMormondocument,Hofmannsetoffthreebombsinabuilding.ThefirstkilledaninnocentMormonbusinessleaderandthethirdaccidentallywentoffinhiscar,attractingpoliceattention.Hofmanniscurrentlyservingalifesentence.
Counterfeiting
• Whenfalsedocumentsorotheritemsarecopiedforthepurposeofdeception,itiscalledcounterfeiting.Travelers’checks,savingsbonds,andcurrencyareamongthemostoftencounterfeiteditems.Otheritemscouldbefoodstamps,postagestamps,orcoins.
• Inthepast,withaccesstoascannerandcolorprinter,itwasnotverydifficulttocreatecounterfeitcurrency.NowtheSecretServicewiththeaidoftechnologyhasaddedfeaturestopapercurrencythat,whenscanned,preventthecurrencyfrombeingcopied.Counterfeitmoneyalsofeelsdifferentbecauserealmoneyisprintedonspecialpaper.The#1waypeoplecatchfakesisbecauseitdoesn’tfeelright.
DetectingCounterfeitCurrency• Counterfeitdetectingpensareinexpensive
specialpens/markerscontainingtheelementiodine.Whentheycomeincontactwithacounterfeitbill,thepapermarkedwiththepenwillchangecolortoabluish-black.Thisisbecauseofstarch,foundinregularprinterpaper.Realmoneydoesnotcontainstarchbuthasadifferentfiber.Whenthepenismarkedonrealmoney,it’llleaveapaleyellow-brownlinethatfadesquickly.
• Penmanufacturersclaimthepentohavea98%accuracy,butsomecounterfeiterswillbleach$1billstohavethecorrectpapertoprintofflargerbills.Thereiscurrentlyaglobalmovementtochangetopolymermoney,atypeofplasticmoneybecauseit’smuchmoredifficulttocounterfeitandlessexpensivetomake.
• 1.Theportraitismorelifelikethanoncounterfeitmoney.• 2.Therearefine lines,smoothandunbroken linesprintedbehind thepresident
andbehind thebuilding onthereverse.• 3.Thereisapolymer threadwoveninthebill.Thethreadinthe$100billreads
"USA100"andthe$50billreads"USA50".Thethreadcan'tbereproducedwithcopiersorprintersbutisvisiblewhenthebillishelduptoalightorappearsyellowwheninultravioletlight.Genuinebillsalsohaveredandbluethreadsembeddedinthepaper.Oncounterfeitmoneythelineslooklikethey'reprintedon thepaperbutongenuinebillsthelinesappeartobeinthepaper.
• 4.Thereisawatermarkor"shadow" totherightofthefaceonthebill.Itisn'tvisibleunlessthebillishelduptothelight.
• 5.Colorshifting inkisusedforthenumber inthelowerrighthandcorneronthefrontof thebill.Theinkappearsgreenuntil thebillisheldatanangle,thentheinklooksblack.Theinkisalso"neverdry"ink,whichmeansthatitcanberubbedoff.Sometimes;however,theinkoncounterfeitmoneycanalsoruboff.Onthe$50,thenumber50isprintedinlargeprint.
• 6.Onthe$100billmicroprintedwordsarewrittenaroundtheportrait.Tothenakedeyeitlooks likeablacklinebutunderamicroscopethewords"TheUnitedStatesofAmerica"canberead.Onthe$50bill,"50"iswrittenaround theportraitand"UnitedStatesofAmerica"isprinted inGrant'scollar.
• 7.GenuinebillshavetheFederalReserveandTreasuryseals.Thesaw-toothpointsonthesealareclear,distinct,andsharp.Thesealsoncounterfeitmoneymayhaveuneven,blunt,orbrokenpoints.
• 8.Alongwiththesealsoneachbillthere'saserialnumberprinted inthesamecolorinkastheseal.Numbersandlettersareevenlyspaced.
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Verifying Authentic Currency
Somefeaturesfoundinthenewseriesbills: