Questioned document and forensic examination

Introduction.

Forensic science has become valuable in contemporary times due largely to the sophistication witnessed in the perpetration of crime across the world.

The term "forensic" derived from the Latin word 'forensis' which means belonging to the court of justice. The term "forensic Science" would, therefore, mean science utilised for the administration of justice.

Forensic science may be broadly defined as that scientific discipline which is directed toward recognition, identification, individualisation and evaluation of physical evidence by the application of the principles and methods of science for the purpose of administration of justice. It is the deployment or utilization of scientific proceedures, methodology, knowledge, etc, for prosecution. Document Examination is an established field of scientific study which seeks to identify forgery and establish the authenticity of documents in dispute. It became germain for the court to be able to correctly evaluate document evidence and make sound judgement.

A document may be defined broadly as anything that bears marks, signs or symbols which have meaning or conveys a message to someone. Once the authenticity or genuineness of such document is in doubt, it becomes a questioned document, subject to examination and investigation.

Documents form part of physical evidence that can come to the attention of investigators in their work in a variety of ways. Therefore, the scope of document examination covers a large subject concerning examination of inks, writing instruments, quality of papers, type writings, printed matters, erasers, obliterations, additions or alterations, currency notes, invisible writings, burnt documents, writings with left hand(instead of usual right hand), anonymous complaints utilizing sophisticated modern scientific instruments which not only give quick results but also more reliable results supported with photographic evidence for better presentation in the court and coming more close to truth wihich is the basic requirement of judiciary.

The Scope of Document Examination

The scope of document examination is highlighted here as follows:

identification of handwriting and signatures identification of a document as a forgery identification of typewriters, check writers, and photocopies detection of alterations additions, deletions or substitutions deciphering alterations and erasures identification and deciphering of indented writing comparisons of inks and identification of type of writing instrument, and handwriting identification.

In the proceeding pages, explanations will be offered on some of the above mentioned scope before articulating forensic counterfeits and documents, printed matter as questiooned document and specialties.

Identification of Handwriting and Signatures

Handwriting identification is based on the principle that there are individual features that distinguishes one person's writing from that of another. The handwritings of no two people are exactly alike in their combination of characteristics. There exist natural variations within handwriting of each individual. It is precisely these variations that must be closely and carefully studied by the examiner to distinguish "variation" from "difference". The examiner must also take cognisance of the differences between "class characteristics" and "individual characteristics". Class characteristics refer to those which are common to a group such as a particular writing system, family grouping, foreign language system or professional group. While individual characteristics are those which are personal or peculiar letters or letter combinations, which taken together, would not occur in the writing of another person.

Handwriting identification is, therefore, a comparison study requiring authenticated specimens of known handwriting from the individual(s) concerned. These are then closely compared to the handwriting characteristics exhibited by the questioned writing in order to determine authorship. Areas of comparison include: printing to printing, cursive to cursive, comparable letter, letter combinations, words and numerals.

Forgery

The following are the classes of forgery commonly encountered:

1. No attempt is made by the forger to imitate the genuine signature of the person purportedly signing the document 2. There is an attempt to imitate the genuine signature by some method of tracing of a model signature 3. There is a freehand attempt to simulate the genuine signature from a model. 4. The document and the purported signer are fictitious 5. A "cut and paste" job wherein a genuine signature, or copy thereof, is transferred from some authentic source to a fraudulent document. 6. Other disputed signatures include those which are genuine but which are disguised or written in some illegible manner, by the writer for the purpose of later deniability and signatures which,though genuine, the author either has no memory of executing or is unwilling to accept as genuine.

It should be noted that it is very possible for the document examiner to identify a document or signature as a forgery, but much less common for the examiner to identify the forger. This is because while the forger is attempting to imitate the writing habit of another person, the forger is, at the same time suppressing his own writing habit, thereby disguising his own writing. In attempting to disguise one's own writing or imitate that of another, the briefer the body of writing the easier it is to continue the disquise. As the writing becomes more extended, the greater the probability that one's own subconscious habit will intrude itself into the disguise attempt.

Detection, Decipherment of Obliteration and Alterations

These are examinations which are carried out to detect whether a portion of a document has been altered, some portion rendered not readily visible, or some text added. If an obliteration/alteration is identified, the method is determined and described, and if possible the text of the obliterated entry deciphered. The Video Spectral Comparator(VSC) is the instrument used effectively in this study. The image is examined by viewing on a monitor, and digital image processing through a computer.

Forensic Counterfeits and Documents

Counterfeiting is an old crime which can be carried out on just any document. It can be carried out on currency, credit cards, debit cards, passports, birth certificates, social insurance number cards, travellers' cheques, marriage and drivers licences, bus and airline tickets, etc.

It should be noted however that due to significant improvements in science and technology, different types of security features are embedded in security documents, thereby fortifying these documents making them less vulnerable to counterfeiters.

Questioned Document

A "Questioned" document refers to any signature, handwriting, typewriting, or other mark whose source or authenticity is in dispute or indoubt. The following types of document come under the examiner's purview: Wills, Contracts, Letters, Suicide Notes, Ransom Notes, Threatening letters, photos, lottery tickets, passports, Voter registration/Card, driver's licence, cheques, tax returns, slaes receipts, walls, blackboards or yubber stamps where marks or writing appear.

Questioned document examination encompasses a number of subspecialties, some of which overlap, and could play a role in the investigation of a crime. These include:

1.Handwriting analysis, which attempts to show wether a questioned document came from the same hand as a document known to have been written by a particular person.

2. Historical dating, which uses such techniques as carbon-14 dating to determine the age of a document.

3.Typewriting analysis, this can trace the origin of a document to a make or model of typewriter and to an individual typewriter, a technique used in the investigation surrounding.

4. Fraud Investigation, which follows money trails and often relies on questioned document examination to demonstrate criminal intent.

5. Paper and Ink specialists who use chemical and other methods to identify and date different types of paper, ink, watermarks, copy machines, printer cartridges, etc.

6. Forgery specialists, who use lighting, spectography equipment, and the like to determine whether a document or parts of a document have been erased, changed or otherwise doctored.

7. Forensic stylistics, in which examiners look at linguistic style, grammar, and word choice, to determine whether a person was the likely author of a document. And finally 8. Computer Crime Investigation. Here, same techniques as typewriting analysis, examining ink cartridges, paper alignment, alignment of images produced by printers, and fiber analysis of paper, as well as discovery of hidden, protected, temporary or encrypted computer files, recovery of deleted files, analysis of unallocated space on a computer disk, are deployed for investigation.

Concluding Remark

Documents play a vital role in society and individual lives of members of any society. The first important document is the birth certificate and the last, perhaps the death certificate. A number of other important documents are written and acquired in the course of life. These document range from personal letters or wills to cheques, appointment letters, agreements, etc; all of which can be forged for some financial gain or to take undue advantage over others.

In the world of business, transactions are carried out through documents. Falsification of financial documents has become a big business across the globe and it is on the increase, attaining an alarming proportion.

Hence, it is absolutely essential that operatives of security agencies saddled with the responsibility of gathering evidence in the course of investigation to understand the concept of questioned documents, types and problems of document examination, the care/handling and proper presentation of documents for prosecution in order to achieve success.