What are Questioned Documents in Forensic Science?
Cases of family disputes over significant documents like wills with forged signatures are pretty common. Are you aware of what happens in such cases, or who verifies these documents as having a controversial authenticity or origin? Document Examiners who are trained in Questioned Document Examination do. QDE (Questioned Document Examination) is a forensic science discipline that pertains to hypothetically disputed documents in a court of law. There are various types of questioned documents in forensic science, such as wills, cheques, suicide notes, licenses, etc., that are questioned by document examiners. The primary purpose of the examination is to provide evidence about questioned or suspicious documents using various scientific methods and principles.
Document examination includes determining authenticity, origin, forgery, paper analysis, obliterations, alterations, or any other questions. QDE is one of the vital branches of forensic science where handwriting experts deliberate their findings about the ownership or authenticity of a questioned document. Various techniques and tools are used to study various chemical and physical attributes of a written document, including paper, pencil, ink, rubber stamps, typewriting, handwriting, or printing processes. The primary objective of a questioned document examiner is to create a link between a particular document and a specific writing process or instrument used to create that document.
Common types of Questioned Documents put through Forensic Document Examination
Presently every other individual is adept at using Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, and other visual editing software, which has made the forgery of documents a cakewalk for persons with corrupt intentions. The properties of the questioned documents examined include typewriting, signatures, and handwriting. In some cases, documents do not have any visible mark that is subjected to forensic document examination. Some common types of questioned documents in forensic science that are subjected to forensic document examination are-
- Cheques
- Wills
- Agreements
- Bank Drafts
- Suicide notes
- Currency notes
- Licenses
- ID Cards
- Passports
- Stamp Papers
- Photocopied Documents
- Laminated Documents
- Receipts
Applications of QDE
The analysis needs to be performed by any qualified forensic document examiner. Document examiners have a vital role in investigations that involve document evidence. Suppose a suicide note is found in the investigation scene. The Forensic Document Examination can help answer questions such as whether the note was actually written by the deceased person or whether someone is trying to manipulate the investigators. In cases like this, a handwriting examination procedure is applied to compare the handwriting with the samples found from the scene. Forensic document examination is associated with ‘white-collar crimes involving financial or business deals. However, this branch has significant applications in a broad array of cases, from medical malpractices to kidnappings to homicides. Usually, the examiners follow an investigation process that’s divided into four stages, including-
- Analysis: The known exemplars and the questioned documents are analyzed first, and then a list of the detectable characteristics is prepared.
- Comparison: Then, the questioned characteristics of items are compared against the known standard.
- Evaluation: Differences and similarities are evaluated after the comparison. On the basis of the frequency of occurrence and uniqueness of each characteristic, a final report is made.
- Validation: This is optional and involves the verification of the final result by some other expert.
Use Cases of Forensic Document Examination
Following are some of the cases that need forensic analysis for analyzing various types of question documents:
- Forgeries
- Identity Theft
- Contested Contracts
- Title/Deed Lawsuits
- Medical Malpractices
- Extortion
- Contested Wills
- Bank Robberies
- Kidnappings
- Fraud
- Homicides
- Suicides
- Counterfeiting
Questioned Document Analysis by the Document Examiners
The primary focus of a questioned document examiner is determining the genuineness of a document in question by examining the document’s printing, paper, writing, and other features closely. They use various simple and complex techniques for examining whether any alteration is made in the document that helps narrow down the possible suspects in case of a forgery. A document examiner uses scientific principles of ink and handwriting analysis to examine various sorts of questioned documents. These include-
Handwriting and Signature Examination
To a particular individual, Signature and Handwriting are unique. This makes it quite possible for the document examiners to identify alterations or forgery. The document examiners are trained in signature and handwriting analysis and can thereby identify a forged signature/document from a genuine one.
Ink Examination
Sometimes document examiners use liquid chromatography to extract ink samples from the questioned document to analyze. Some other methods of ink examination involve subjecting a questioned document to infrared radiation. This aids in identifying forged documents as different ink reacts differently when these are exposed to different infrared light frequencies.
Examination of Photocopy Machines, Typewriters, fax Machines, and Printers
For the questioned documents that are typewritten, the document examiners scrutinize the machines that formed them. For instance, a typewriter output always has certain exclusive properties. Some of the properties are quite similar to a specific model of the manual/electrical machine, fabric ribbon/carbon film ribbon, etc. Photocopy and printing machines or typewriters produce unique properties also on their output based on their wear and tear, damage, and abuse.
Detection of Indentation
A suspect or a document that’s recovered from a crime scene can give vital leads from indented writing or impression evidence. Some documents do not comprise any distinguishing notes or marks. But when analyzed with an EDD (Electrostatic Detection Device) they reveal specific invisible indentations or impressions. These can help in establishing vital links between the crime and the suspect.
Detection of erasures, deletions, and other alterations
The Forensic Document Examination reveals evidence of alterations, page substitutions, erasures, and obligations. The changes that are not visible to the naked eye can easily be detected using UV/IR imaging devices and photography. Imaging instruments like VSC (Video Spectral Comparator) use radiations of various wavelengths for identifying alterations, erasures, or additions. This is quite possible by reactions of various inks to wide-ranging wavelengths of light.
Some other examinations part of QDE are:
- Analysis of pencil, ink, or paper used
- Printing processes
- Cheque writers, rubber stamps, price and label makers
- Tampering and photo substitution
- Embedded invisible information
- Ink stamps
- Watermarks
- Alterations
- Latent images
- Surface features
Handwriting Examination
The Document examiners who are involved in the handwriting examination process divide the samples of handwriting into two types- Requested Writing Specimens and Collected Writing Specimens. The Requested Writing Specimens are the writings that are dictated to the writer by the investigator. These documents are created purposely under controlled situations for handwriting examination. It contains a writer’s close monitoring by the document examiner. Collected Writing Specimens are referred to as the subject’s handwriting samples taken from the crime scene or the site before the investigation.
Questioned Documents for forensic science, such as business contracts, medical records, canceled cheques, diaries, letters, or other legal documents that contain a signature, are quite good sources of writing samples. The handwriting examination involves analyzing various handwriting characteristics such as word or letter spacing, legibility, slant/slope, capitalization, the position of the pen, and many other attributes.
Conclusion
At Inside Ink, we provide services for Questioned Document Examination, which includes handwriting and signature examination to verify the authenticity of a document. Our handwriting experts specialize in questioned documents providing examinations relevant to wills, checks, business contracts, and others. We are adept at analyzing various types of questioned documents using scientific and physical methods. If you need a document examination, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will review your case and offer you quality service with dependable results.
She is a certified Graphologist since 2002 and is an expert in designing customized remedies to help her clients overcome various life issues like finance troubles, career growth, education, relationship problems, anxiety, guilt, fear and health issues like back pains, digestion/stomach related issues etc. She has done her M.Tech in IEOR from IIT Bombay. Her one-on-one guidance and customized solutions ensure that all her clients succeed and develop at a fast pace who come from all walks of life including entrepreneurs, students, business professionals, housewives, retirees, white-collar and blue-collar workers.