10.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:32 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
A recent case involved forged documents which contained both artificially placed and electronically produced signatures. The perpetrator went to great lengths to create the falsified documents. In fact, the forger was quite creative in their attempts. So much so, that this document examiner had to appreciate the forger’s very inventive and artistic use of PhotoShop. His or her work was actually quite impressive and did provide an interesting case study.
Nonetheless, the forgeries were detected under close examination using forensic document examination principles and techniques. As technology continues to improve, document examiners keep abreast of such changes through actual casework and endless studies.
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04.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:30 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
I attended the National Association of Document Examiners Annual Conference in Austin, TX last week. It was very informative and an overall enjoyable conference. In my opinion, document examiners and/or handwriting experts are a great group of people. One lecturer commended our group’s diverse talents. Perhaps she compliments each group she lectures to, but she seemed very sincere in her favorable comments and I prefer to view her as someone of integrity. Whether I am partial or not, I do have a lot of respect for document examiners and overall, they are an extremely intelligent and talented group, and are a pleasure to rub elbows with.
During the conference, one presenter lectured on ethics and integrity. I looked up a quote he made and found that it appears to have originated from Alan Simpson, former U.S. Senator.
“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”
In my opinion, that pretty much sums up integrity. There are those that have it, and those that don’t.
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02.27.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:07 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
An exemplar is a handwriting sample. An adequate number of relevant exemplars is necessary to conduct a document examination. Just as no two people write alike and each case is different, the number of exemplars needed to perform an examination may vary. Exemplars provided should be comparable to the disputed text, adequate in amount, and written around the same time period as the questioned document. The subject matter of a disputed document or handwriting should be similar to the subject matter of the known (collected specimen standard) exemplars. The conditions under which the questioned and known writings and the type of writing instrument and paper (or form) should be similar.
Most signatures include the full written name of an individual, which provides many facets of letters, strokes, connectors and placements to examine. A recent case study involved only two initials as the normal course of business signature on the disputed document. However, at times the writer also used a full signature as his normal course of business signature. This provided a challenge for not only the document examiner, but the client as well.
Finding an adequate number of two-initial signatures to provide for the document examination proved challenging for the client. And having a limited number of verifiable two-initial signatures to examine limited the conclusion in this case. Adequate, comparable exemplars are paramount to this type of document examination. As a result, an unqualified opinion was not possible in this case.
It is the opinion of this document examiner that the use of only two initials as one’s normal course of business signature may provide an easier signature for an attempted forgery. The use of initials gives the forger only one, two or three letters to imitate versus needing to simulate all the letters in a full signature. This is not to say that forensic document examiners are unable to detect forged initials. Each writer possesses unique handwriting characteristics which are as individual as the person themselves. Many legal documents utilize initials and a document examiner is often called upon to examine initials with successful results.
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11.16.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:59 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Yesterday, I went to the bank to make a withdrawal from my business account. The young teller took my request, gave me a withdrawal form to sign and asked for my DL. She proceeded to line up the documents she had received and kept clicking back and forth on her computer monitor. Next, she called over a senior teller and said “we have this, this and this, and then here is the signature card,” while the senior teller dutifully looked over her shoulder at the monitor.
It took a few moments to register what was happening, and then I asked if they were questioning my signature? I had to laugh and told them that I was a Forensic Document Examiner and Handwriting Expert and handed them my business card. Then, I remembered that I had changed the way I wrote my ‘D’ a couple of years ago and that is why my signature card was different.
I laughed again, but thanked them for making sure my signature was correct and added that if they ever had any questions about someone’s signature to give me a call. The teller kept my business card…
How ironic! A Document Examiner’s own signature was in question. LOL
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10.22.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:34 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
A mother’s Will was forged. A family member attempted to disguise his handwriting to simulate that of his mother’s tremulous handwriting. In the letter, the mother supposedly bequeathed everything to that family member, thus leaving nothing for the remaining children of the deceased.
This case took several hours to examine and compare each and every letter and word in the questioned document. However, the forger’s innate characteristics could not be completely eliminated in the disguised writing, though he did try. Upon a thorough document examination, the forger was identified.
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05.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:44 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Identity theft is on the rise…
You work with employees whom you consider friends, however, that is not always the case. Identity theft took a twisted turn in a case where someone took countless insert cards that are inserted between the pages of magazines, maliciously filled them out with a fellow employee’s name and address, and submitted the postage-paid insert cards for magazine subscriptions.
The victim’s mailbox was soon bombarded with hundreds of magazines and the resulting subscription invoices. I was hired to identify the perpetrator. The client had a good idea who did the nasty deed and was able to provide adequate handwriting samples of the suspect. As a result, I was able to identify the guilty party and help put a stop to the injustice…
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04.29.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:31 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Someone wrote a letter using disguised writing in an attempt to defraud other family members out of an inheritance. This case was very interesting to work on, as the author of the letter used tremor in the handwriting, which is often found in the feeble and infirm. Once a thorough examination had been performed, the lengthy exemplars provided gave clear evidence as to who the perpetrator was.
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03.08.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:05 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Another article about being a handwriting expert and forensic document examiner was published in the “Michigan Daily” on 1/31/07. This article was written by Anne Vandermey, Daily News Editor. In this article, I feel that Anne used “poetic license.” I learned alot about doing interviews through this experience, and have decided that before an article goes to print, we should get a chance to review and edit what we said. I may request this in the future…
If you would like to read the article, here is the link:
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/01/31/TheStatement/The-Character.In.Characters-2687836.shtml
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02.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:47 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Officer XYZ was fired from his job. Reason: Accused of forging another officer’s name to a police form. GraphoWrite document examiner hired. Outcome: Officer XYZ did NOT forge the signature, and guilty party was identified.
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11.19.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:25 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
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