February 28, 2013

Standard: SFS2d Identify methods used for the evaluation of handwriting and document evidence?

EQ: How can handwriting analysis be used to solve crimes?

WARM-UP:Read the story about the Unabomber on pg. 552 (blue book)/ pg. 622 (orange book) and answer the following questions. Write the questions and answers.

1.How did the Unabomber get his name?2.What year did the first death take place as a result of the mailed Unabomb?3.What piece of evidence helped turn the seemingly “unsolvable” case around?4.What was the irony in this story that helped “crack the case”?

• Handwriting analysis- Accurate tool

- Reveals how a writer thinks, feels, and acts

- So accurate it is used by the FBI, CIA, and Mossad (Israel’s intelligence agency)

- To build detailed psychological profiles of some of the worlds’ most dangerous individuals

- Handwriting is actually “brainwriting”

http://handwriting.feedbucket.com/

- Your brain decides size, shape, and slant of your handwriting

- The marks placed on paper are known as “brain prints”

- Reading and interpreting brain prints requires logic and knowledge

• Any document about which some issue has been raised or that is the subject of an investigation questioned document.

Ex. Letters, Checks, wills,

passports, lottery tickets

INTRODUCTION:

• Document experts continually testify to the fact that no two individuals write exactly alike.

• Stages of handwriting shifts from conscious (little variations) to unconscious (many variations) control as age increases.

• The unconscious handwriting of two different individuals can never be identical.

CHARACTER OF HANDWRITING:

• Variations are expected in angularity, slope, speed, pressure, letter and word spacing, relative dimensions of letters, connections, pen movement, writing skill, and finger dexterity.

• The writing style of one individual may be altered beyond recognition by the influence of drugs or alcohol.

CHARACTER OF HANDWRITING:

No single handwriting characteristic can in itself be taken as the basis for a positive comparison.The final conclusion must be based on a sufficient number of common characteristics between the known and questioned writing samples.

CHARACTER OF HANDWRITING:

• The collection of an adequate number of known writings (exemplars) is most critical for determining the outcome of a handwriting comparison.

• The writing instrument and paper should also be alike.

HANDWRITING EXEMPLARS:

DOCUMENT ALTERATIONS:

Document examiners must deal with evidence that has

been changed in several ways, such as through alterations, erasures, and obliterations.

ERASURES:

The removal of writing, typewriting, or printing from a document, normally accomplished by either chemical means or an abrasive instrument.

Ex. rubber erasers, sandpaper, razor blade or knife to remove writing or typing disturb the fibers of

the paper

ALTERATIONS:

• If an alteration is made to a document with ink differing from the original, it can sometimes be detected due to differences in the luminescence properties of the inks.

OBLITERATIONS:

• Blotting out or smearing over writing or printing to make the original unreadable.

INDENTED WRITINGS:

Impressions left on paper positioned under a piece of paper that has been written on.

http://www.agame.com/game/the-handwriting-quiz.html

MARCH 5, 2013

EQ: How is handwriting used in forensic science?

WARM-UP:Look at the document on your desk. There are four writings on the document. See if you can match the writing with the following authors:

Albert Einstein Oprah WinfreyMartin Luther King Bill CosbyAbraham Lincoln Charles MansonTed Bundy Rosa ParksHilary Clinton Barack Obama

Any document that has become darkened and brittle through exposure to fire or excessive heat

Reveals writing that has been erased

Computer printer model determination requires analysis of printer technology and type of ink usedAt least 10 samples of a

photocopy must be available in order for a document examiner to establish the photocopies’ characters

Separates colored dyes found in commercial ink, ballpoint inks, soluble liquids and pigments.

http://www.myhandwriting.com/traitdic/index.html

Write the following on the space on your paper:

I am in possession of the secret formula for Super Cola.

Answer the following questions about your signatures:

1.Are your five signatures the same? Explain

2.Is your 6th signature identical to the signature you tried to copy? Explain.

3.Was your lab partner able to copy your signature? Explain similarities and differences.

• The two requests most often made of the examiner in connection with the examination of typewriters and printing devices are:

– whether the make and model of the typewriter and printing devices used to prepare the questioned document can be identified.

– whether a particular suspect typewriter or printing device can be identified as having prepared the questioned document.