Questioned documents Full PPT
- 2. Definitions • Document – • something that contains information • normally made of paper, but other materials including boards, walls • even bodies can bear written messages • Questioned • Authenticity is questioned • Counterfeit? • Who is the author? • Source?
- 3. Two levels of information • Superficial • where what is conveyed by the document is expressed in writing, typewriting, or printing, or a combination • Deeper • other, less obvious, evidence can be found • The main area of interest • identity of the writer • the source of the typewriting or printing • the presence of traces of erased entries
- 4. Evidence that can be obtained from a document • A connection between a crime and an individual • the exclusion of that individual from the investigation, can be established. • Author • Authenticity • Age
- 5. Analysis • Scientific method • Accepted technique • Proper trained experts • Not relying on instinct • Working in a prescribed manner
- 6. A brief History • 1887- “The Ohio Supreme Court recognized the importance of handwriting as a means of identifying a person ” • Utilizing standards of comparison, expert comparative analysis and opinion testimony regarding writing to established questioned writing as prepared by a specific writer. • 1900 -Daniel T. Ames “Ames on Forgery” - 1900 • One of the earliest treatises by the founder of the Penman’s Art Journal, penmanship author and “Examiner of Contested 1900 Contested Handwriting in Courts of Justice”
- 7. • 1910 - Albert Sherman Osborn - “Questioned Documents” • focus on not only the examination of handwriting and signatures, but of other types of evidence appearing on documents including paper, ink, typewriting and alterations. • American Society of Questioned Document Examiners
- 8. Videos to watch • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XX44bVs5H4 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M6y8vXisiI
- 9. Classes of Questioned Documents
- 10. 1. Documents with questioned signatures. • any one of the ordinary commercial or legal papers such as a check, note, receipt, draft, order, contract, assignment, will, deed, or similar paper • the signature of which is under suspicion. • In this class are found • the traced forgery • the forgery produced by the simulating or copying process.
- 11. 2. Documents containing alleged fraudulent alterations • all those in which it is alleged some alteration has been made by • erasure, addition, interlineation or substitution by reason of which the effect or value of the document is materially changed. • In connection with this class of documents questions may arise regarding • the order or sequence of writing as shown by crossed lines • age of writing • continuity of writing • erasures and changes, • identity of ink • identity of pen • pen condition • under certain conditions, the question may arise whether writing preceded or followed the folding of the paper. • This important class of questioned documents also includes all varieties of "raised" checks, drafts and notes as well as fraudulent interlineations in contracts, deeds, wills and other legal papers.
- 14. 3. Holograph documents questioned or disputed. • Watermarks • Seals • Tickets of many kinds are frequently forged or counterfeited • rare stamps • valuable manuscripts • Certificates • letters of introduction and recommendation, • Diplomas • marriage certificates, marriage contracts, • court papers • autographs and letters of famous people
- 15. 4. Documents attacked on the question of their age or date. • in which the age of an instrument or the age of some part of it is investigated • a paper in which the comparative age of different parts may have some bearing on the question of its genuineness. • purport to be ancient documents of great importance • it is usually claimed, were found in some strange place or under peculiar conditions
- 16. 5. Documents attacked on the question of materials used in their production • Documents have frequently been shown to be false because they were dated many years before the paper was made on which they were written • type printed forms • lithographed forms • Typewriting • Seals • Envelopes • stamps, or any tangible thing that may have a date value
- 17. 6. Documents investigated on the question of typewriting • (a) With a view to ascertaining their source. • (b) With a view to determining their date.
- 18. 7. Documents or writings investigated because they identify some person through handwriting • (a) Anonymous and disputed letters. • all documents, papers, writings or instruments which by their handwriting and contents tend to identify some person • (b)registrations and miscellaneous writings.
- 19. Videos to watch • A movie – Catch me if you Can
- 21. • systematic approach • standard method of operation assures • that a complete analysis is conducted methodically • meets the requirements for expert testimony, according to Daubert.
- 22. First step • Determining whether the material is of good quality • Contains enough characteristics of handwriting to be identifiable • Squiggly lines and initials or short signatures may not contain enough characteristics • Initials (found in teachers most commonly)
- 23. Second Step – only if sufficient characteristics can be found • Exemplar collection (Standard writing) • determine if they are suitable for comparison with the questioned material. • must be representative of the writer • written under similar conditions as the questioned material within a reasonable time frame.
- 24. Exemplar Parameters • should come from an environment similar to that of the questioned material • should reflect the physical and mental condition of the writer at the time of the questioned writing • should have been written before the questioned material and some shortly after • should contain suitable material for comparison, such as similar letter combinations and spacing • all of the exemplars are genuine
- 25. Hitler Diaries • In April 1983 Gruner and Jahr, the parent company of the West German publisher of the popular magazine Stern, announced that it had purchased for $2.3 million an astonishing set of documents: sixty-two notebooks that purported to be the handwritten diaries of Adolf Hitler, as well as an unpublished third volume of Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler's autobiographical manifesto written while he was incarcerated in Landsberg prison in the 1920s. • Stern began to serialize the diaries, which covered the period 1935–45, and sold publication rights to Newsweek in the United States and to the London Times.
- 26. • The story surrounding the documents supposed that they had been on a plane carrying the Führer's personal archives out of Berlin when it was shot down in April 1945 near the village of Börnersdorf, in what would later become East Germany. The documents, which escaped destruction because they were housed in a metal box, were recovered by local farmers, who hid them until they were smuggled out of the country and came into the hands of a document collector and World War II enthusiast named Konrad Kujau.
- 27. • The diaries sent shock waves throughout the world and touched off a historical controversy, for they portrayed a Hitler who was very different from the man who haunted the history books. In particular, they suggested that Hitler had no involvement in the 1938 riot against the Jews called Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), that he knew nothing of the "final solution," or plans to exterminate Europe's Jewish population, and that his goal was simply to resettle western Europe's Jews in eastern Europe. If the diaries were authentic, they were the most significant historical find in decades, and the history of the Nazi regime of the 1930s and 1940s would have to be entirely rewritten. •
- 28. • Stern had initially been skeptical and reluctant to purchase the documents. In time, skepticism and reluctance turned into an almost fevered excitement about this apparent historical discovery. Stern's eventual willingness to accept the authenticity of the documents rested on two foundations. First were the memoirs of Lieutenant General Hans Baur, Hitler's chief SS pilot, who confirmed that a plane flown by one Major Friedrich Gundlfinger was indeed ferrying Hitler's private papers out of the country the month when his plane was shot down. Second, Stern sought confirmation from other sources. It submitted the papers to three handwriting experts: Dr. Max Frei-Sulzer , a former head of the police forensic science department in Zurich, Switzerland; American document verification expert Ordway Hilton; and a third expert in the employ of the German police. Comparing the writing in the diaries with known samples of Hitler's handwriting retrieved from Germany's Federal Archives, these experts concluded that both the diaries and the samples were written by the same hand, that of Adolf Hitler. Backing up their claims were prominent historians such as Britain's Hugh Trevor-Roper, although other historians noted historical inconsistencies in the diaries and denounced them as hoaxes.
- 29. • The controversy prompted the German Federal Archives to conduct its own independent tests, focusing not on the handwriting, but on the physical documents themselves. On May 6, 1983, the archives held a press conference and announced that the diaries were forgeries. • The forensics evidence used to reach this conclusion was based on examination of the ink and paper, as well as seals affixed to the documents. Modern ink has different varieties of chemical composition, or "fingerprints," that fall into four groupings: (1) inks in which gallic acid is used to hold iron salts in suspension; (2) those in which gum arabic is used to hold carbon particles in suspension; (3) those that contain synthetic dyes, as well as a range of polymers and acids; (4) those that contain various solvents and additives such as chloride to hold synthetic dyes or pigments.
- 31. Factors to be kept in mind • Mechanical factors such as • writing instrument • type of paper • writing surface • amount of light used. • Physical factors incorporate • health of the writer, both physical and mental • any handicaps or accidents affecting the writing hand • whether the writer was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. • amount of formal education of the writer in order to identify the skill level.
- 32. Initial examination • search for obvious signs of forgery in the questioned material. • simple forgery is generally the easiest type of forgery to identify • determine if there is any evidence of self-disguise (if there are no signs of forgery)
- 33. Basic tools needed for forensic documents’ examination UV LECTURE 4
- 34. Ultraviolet fluorescence • can be used as a means for testing whether two or more pieces are similar or different • materials, such as glues, adhesive tapes, and sealing waxes, can also be distinguished by their fluorescences • application of solvents or chemicals to paper can cause the fluorescence to change • some differences between inks • Invisible inks • writing that has been erased
- 35. • 10-400nm in wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum • Three types • Short wavelength – 180-280 • Sterilization, chromatography, etc • Medium wavelength -280-320 • Cosmetic and therapeutic purpose • Long wavelength – 320-400 • Beneficial for forensic examination
- 41. Infrared • longer wavelengths than visible light • generally invisible to the human eye • can be felt as heat by humans • 700 nanometers (nm) to 1 millimeter (mm) • readily absorbed and converted in to the heat energy
- 42. Analysis of Inks • any disputed or altered document • use of two different types of inks is suspected • differences among the reflectivity of the ink used
- 43. Analysis of Obliterated Writings • using correction fluid and then over-writing • by damaging the previous text and then over-writing • One ink will be opaque and other will be transparent at certain wavelength
- 45. Examination of Erasures • Small particles of the ink or pencil often linger in the outline when writing is erased mechanically • Cancellation Marks • The cancelation mark residues may not be visible duets the stamp's dark background. An infrared photograph may reveal the remains of previous marks of cancellation. • Water Damaged • the residual ink in the paper fluoresced in the infrared and this can be recorded further to decipher the written matter.
- 47. Comprises of the following • (a) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometer • (b) Computer • (c) Monitor VSC is an integrated composite system comprising of cameras, various light sources which includes IR, Laser, UV etc. and filters which assist in comparison of questioned documents.
- 48. Features of VSC • 1. Hi Fi Imaging Technology: An optical system that minimizes spatial distortions and chromatic aberration throughout the entire magnification range offering excellent image quality. • 2. High Resolution Imaging System • 3. Full Range Light Source: Includes incident and transmitted ultraviolet to infrared plus high intensity illumination for the examination of Infrared Florescence of inks. • 4. Graphic User Interface: Innate, on screen control system allows the operator to navigate the system more easily. Magnification, light sources, filters, image analysis and image processing functions are selected from simple on screen icons using mouse. • 5. Multiple Laser Images (MLI): MLI and changeable Laser Images can be viewed using the VSC’s side lights. Alternatively the VSC range of hologram imaging LED’s can be used giving great flexibility.
- 49. • 6. Latent Images: A new software feature, a digital imaging filter that detects and enhances latent security images on documents. • 7. Intelligent software: VSC ensures compatible combination of illumination and imaging filter automatically. • 8. OVI Imaging: An optical viewer that create images of OVI print from two angles incident at 45º, simultaneously. • 9. Image comparison: A range of facilities for displaying images of two documents simultaneously including split screen, overlay and alternate strobe. • 10. Microspectrometer: A high resolution real time grating spectrometer provides absorption, reflectance, transmittance and fluorescence spectra.
- 50. • 11. Image integration: A variation in the IR fluorescence emitted by two inks provides a valuable means of detecting a fraudulent alteration to the document. • 12. ICAO Data Reader: The OCR allows operations to check data in the machine readable zone of passports and ID cards. • 13. Areas of Interest Processing: By selecting restricted area of an image, the effects of image enhancement can be improved. • 14. Bar code Reader Deciphers: 1D and 2D Bar codes including PDF417 format. • 15. Image Measurement: A software module that enables examiner to make a variety of measurement including distances, angles, areas, circle radii and shape perimeters. A simple calibration procedure also enables absolute values to be computed.
- 51. • 6. Birefringent security Features: A circular polarizer will image security features printed with chiral birefringent pigment which appears to contrast against the background under the polarizer. • 17. Color measurement: Characterizes the color of a selected area of an image in standard color coordinates for comparison. • 18. Image enhancement with pseudo color mapping • 19. Invisible information decoders • 20. Image processing and enhancement • 21. Programmed examinations • 22. Hyper spectral imaging
- 52. LIGHT SOURCES AND THEIR USES • The VSC has four different light sources. These are used to help bring out specific types of features in the document examined. • The first light source is incandescent filament lamps. These have a range from 400 nm-1000 nm and encompass visible and IR light. These lights are used in the VSC when one uses the functions of flood, transmitted, spot and side lighting. • The LED lamps which have a wavelength from 400-700 nm are used with coaxial lighting and diffracted lighting. The UV lamps are Vapor discharge tubes. • The VSC offers three ranges of UV light. This is with 365 nm (UV-A), 312 nm (UV-B) and 254 (UV-C) peak wavelengths. All of these can illuminate the document from above. With transmitted lighting the VSC only offers UV light with 365 nm. • The last of the light sources is a flash tube. This lamp has a range of 850-1100 nm and is used for the Anti-Stokes flash function.
- 54. ESDA
- 55. Electrostatic detection apparatus • to decipher indentations or impressions in paper. • a non-destructive technique • capable of detecting indentations or impressions or sub-surface writings created on pages which are several layers beneath the top- most sheet.
- 56. Indented writing • writing that is formed to a sheet of paper underneath the one on which the original writing was done. • he pressure exerted by the pen or pencil is sufficient to indent the papers beneath • partially visible depressions • he indented writing would appear as a carbon copy of the top sheet
- 57. Working of ESDA • Plastic sheet and questioned document with some toner • Put in vacuum • Charge is applied • Difference in charge on the plastic sheet corresponding to the indentations of the questioned document • Toner goes and rests there creating a carbon image of the indentations marks.
- 58. Components • 1. Main Unit • 2. Reel holder (Imaging film) • 3. Corona Wand • 4. Mains power adapter
- 59. Procedure • The document is placed on a porous, electrically earthen plate • A length of thin, transparent imaging film (Mylar) is placed over the document to completely cover it. • Negative electrical charge is deposited onto the upper surface of the imaging film • an electrostatic image forms on the imaging film • electrostatic image is developed and made visible by applying negativelycharged black toner powder to the imaging film • ESDA image is made permanent by laminating the imaging film with a sheet of adhesive fixing film
- 60. USES • Cheque Forgery-: In this category of forgery, possibility of cheque book in the hands of awful people can be there. The person can forge the signature on cheque and withdraw the money. In such a case we can examine second cheque for any indentations present. • Traced Forgery-: Traced forgery can be done by tracing signature or handwriting impressed on second page. The forger will follow the pattern of indentation of signature or handwriting to forge the signature or handwriting of someone. In this case deciphering of traced forgery can be done using ESDA. • Ransom note existence can be determined from the source of indentations by deciphering it on another piece of paper (culprit’s notepad) in case written. • An anonymous letter may bear impressions of writings that relate to some everyday activity of the offender which can ultimately lead an investigator to a particular suspect.
- 62. Videos to watch • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKxx1bs7LyU • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMLHbPLKZLU
- 63. Handwriting
- 64. • an acquired skill • complex perceptual-motor task • a neuromuscular task • one of the most advanced achievements of the human hand
- 65. The process of handwriting • 27 bones in the hand • controlled by more than 40 muscles • situated in the lower arm and connect to the fingers by an intricate set of tendons. • precisely coordinated by a timing system • a neural control of movements of the arm, the hand, and the fingers • determines the structure of the pattern that is recorded by the pen or pencil
- 66. Development of writing • culture dependent • cultures differ with locales • undergo constant change • class, system, or national characteristics
- 67. Attributes • a continuous or flowing task • apparent interruptions at word boundaries • pen movement may be continuous and uninterrupted • skilled performance of handwriting - smooth execution of a structured sequence of coordinated movements • particular pattern of these movements constitutes the habitual aspects of writing • with practice and skill, the execution of writing habits becomes more automatic • Making the writing process less subject to conscious control.
- 68. History of the study of handwriting • the correlation of writing features and various medical and mental conditions • identify the affects of social status, self-esteem, and sex upon handwriting • correlation of writing features and particular personality characteristics • pedagogy of writing and remedial approaches to improve its quality in the writing of children
- 69. Principles of Handwriting • No two people write exactly alike • all writing contains natural variation so that no two writing samples by the same writer will be exactly the same • Writing is a complex act and a highly developed skill. Many influences affect the development of each person’s writing ability, resulting in the unique style of each individual writer
- 70. Some additional points • beginning of the individuality - visual observation of one’s surroundings • Writing is affected by what we see and what we remember
- 71. Factors that help in mastering handwriting • powers of observation • the ability to remember the forms • attempt to reproduce the forms observed. • ability to overcome the mechanical and physical impediments to writing • placing the paper at the proper angle • holding the paper in place with one hand to steady it while writing with the other, • learning to control the pen or pencil and direct the movements • Choosing a pen that you are comfortable with
- 72. Natural variations in Handwriting
- 73. • graphic maturity - Once a writer has reached the permanent condition of automatic writing • Continues until some physical or mental disturbance interferes
- 74. • Robert Saudek[ states that a person is capable of writing fluently, easily, and automatically only under the following conditions: 1. The writer is familiar with the letters so that mention of a letter conjures a graphic image of that letter in his or her mind. 2. The writer has control of the writing instrument and the mechanical factors of the paper, pen, and writing surface do not interfere with the writing. 3. The writer is free of any physical impediment that would hinder writing. 4. The writer knows how to spell the words and does not have to concentrate on the spelling. 5. The writer is writing in his or her native language.
- 75. Basic factors that influence writing • MECHANICAL FACTORS • change of body position • Lighting • type of pen and paper • writing surface • TIME SPAN • changes over the course of one’s life. • from childhood to adolescence • change again when one reaches adulthood • until one reaches graphic maturity • decline as the aging process reduces one’s skill level • HEALTH • BLINDNESS
- 76. • MENTAL HEALTH • DRUGS AND MEDICATION • ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE • ACCIDENTALS • GUIDED HAND • TREMOR IN HANDWRITING
- 78. Determining the age and relative age of documents
- 79. • is not as old as it purports to be • whether a document is actually as old as its date would indicate • to show the probable date of an undated document • whether several documents, or several writings bearing different dates, are not actually of the same age
- 80. Paper • when the paper was first manufactured • the manufacturer of the paper must be known • the manufacturer must have records that disclose when certain combinations of materials were first introduced • watermark found in better grades of writing, typing, and computer printing papers • Few watermarks include a dating code that allows the manufacturer to determine the year in which the paper was made
- 81. • Records are generally available • changes in design of the watermark or by defects developed over time in the watermark dandy roll – help in dating documents or proving the dates fraudulent • Making watermarks – a simple process- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQwTblKyU8g
- 82. Writing Inks • During the 20th century a number of new chemicals were developed and used in the production of writing inks. • new classes of inks have been developed for use in a variety of pens now on the market, including ballpoint, roller ball, porous tip and gel • Their presence on a document of a particular date may be inconsistent with the earliest availability of the writing ink or pen • In the early 1970s rare-earth elements, and later special chemicals, were added to some inks in order to tag them for identification and dating purposes
- 83. • The rare-earth component was dropped early on due to problems in detecting their presence and other analytical problems. • Extensive ink reference libraries have been developed by government laboratories in the U.S. and overseas as well as by a small number of private practitioners • The application of TLC allows for the differentiation of the various dye components that make up the ink’s color. • The results can be compared with the ink reference library and probable matches made, which may allow the document examiner to establish the earliest date of commercial availability. • These reference specimens are most helpful in proving that a document could not have been written on a certain date because the ink was not then available.
- 84. Photocopiers and Printers • earliest copier models used a liquid toner • later years dry toner became the standard • advances in inkjet technology • Dot matrix technology has, to some extent, fallen by the way • It may be possible to determine that a document could not have been produced on the date suggested based on the availability of the copying or printing process at that time.
- 85. Paper
- 86. • Egyptians used papyrus as a writing surface. • To make papyrus, they mashed reeds together into a flat sheet of pulp and dried them. • They mixed soot with water as ink and sharpened a reed into a pen to write on the papyrus. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO72jfUCYSg
- 87. • Vellum was created as a writing surface from the skin of calves. It came into use in the second century BC • paper from the inner bark of bamboo and hemp • The Arabs learned to make paper when they conquered the Chinese in 751 • Eleven hundred years later Europeans began making paper, using cotton and linen as the base • William Rittenhouse of Roxborough, PA founded the first paper plant in America in 1690.
- 88. • Today most paper is made from wood pulp and may contain some cotton. • Higher quality paper uses cotton rag • a scientific process that employs highly sophisticated equipment in the manufacture of thousands of varieties of paper
- 89. • chipping pulpwood into small pieces that are then mixed with chemicals and fed into pressure vessels called digesters to soften the lignin, which binds the fibers together. In this cooking process, the cellulose fibers are separated. • They proceed through several stages of washing, screening, cleaning, and, if necessary, bleaching to the desired brightness. • Next, the fibers are combined with pigments, dyes, and sizing. This mixture is more than 99% water and less than 1% fiber and other solids. It flows onto a moving screen called a Fourdrinier, on which the fibers mat, forming a continuous sheet of paper with much of the water drawn through the screen into collection tanks to be recycled.
- 90. • The web of pulp passes through heavy rollers, which press moisture from the sheet. • This sheet proceeds over steam-heated cylinders to complete the drying stage through the evaporation of the water. • Frequently, a starch application or pigmented coating is applied by a size press or coater. The paper then passes through a series of calendar stacks (iron rollers stacked together) that smooth the paper. The paper is rewound into smaller rolls or converted into sheets ready for shipment.
- 91. Water mark • During the pressing process the paper passes over a dandy roll, which imprints the watermark on the paper. • The watermark is actually a thinner area of the paper. • The dandy roll contains the design of the watermark in a metal form, which pushes the paper fibers aside, leaving an imprint in the paper. • Most sheets of paper contain a single watermark, but some paper, such as safety paper, may contain multiple designs. • The dandy roll also makes the imprint for woven or laid papers, particularly rag bonds. Laid paper has a grid pattern impressed in the paper
- 92. PAPER FOR PRINTING OR WRITING • Newsprint - is the least expensive paper manufactured. It is composed mostly of ground wood, causing it to discolor easily. Its principal asset is opacity, a result of the impurities of the wood. • Offset - an uncoated paper that usually contains fillers and additives. It is bleached and sized to resist water. Cost is slightly more than double the cost of newsprint. It is used for the publication of books as well as catalog sheets, loose-leaf inserts, and tablet paper. • Bond paper - so named because it was originally used to print stocks and bonds. It is popular in the modern business office. Law firms frequently use high-quality bond paper.
- 93. • Lightweight, uncoated papers include onionskin, which comes in smooth or cockle finishes, and snap-out forms, which are frequently made with manifold papers made from wood fibers. Another classification in lightweight paper is “bible” paper
- 94. Questions to Ask About Paper • What kind of paper was used? • Was more than one kind of paper used on a multi-page document? • Are the watermarks the same? In the same direction? • Is the paper the same size, thickness, color? • Are there any marks on the paper? • Are there any holes where the paper may have been stapled? Are the holes consistent? • Was the paper torn or damaged? • Did it come from a pad? Can the tears be matched?
- 95. • Are those grip marks from a printer feeder? • Is the paper lined? • Is the paper soiled? Crumbled? Faded? • Was the paper cut by hand? • Are there any discolorations or stains on the paper? What caused them? • Did ink from another page bleed through? • Is there any indented writing on the paper? • Are there any signs of erasure through abrasion or the application of chemicals? • Are the margins on the paper all the same?