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Every person's style of handwriting
is unique and has its own personalised touch. It is
because of this reason that handwriting is very difficult
to disguise and forge, making handwriting analysis
an effective tool for incriminating a suspect.
Voice analysis is also a helpful way
of identifying a criminal. Phonetics
experts are able tell from a voice what age, race
and sex the person is, as well as trace phone calls
back to a particular caller.
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Select one of the topics below for
more information:
--> Handwriting
--> The
use of handwriting analysis
--> Writing
comparison
--> Techniques
--> Analysing
print
--> Voice
analysis
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| Handwriting |
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writing practices we learn during our time at
school are very difficult to lose, as we get used
to the particular way that we hold a pen, shape
the letters we write and how we space our words
and lines. These are some of the factors that
prove useful during the analysis of a document.
Investigators analyse these aspects of suspicious
documents i.e the printing style, paper and ink,
all of which help to identify a forged letter. |
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Writing samples are collected from everyday pieces
of material. Photo courtesy of www.morguefile.com.
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| The
Use of Handwriting Analysis |
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| The handwriting section
of forensic science involves the comparing and authentication
of written documents such as ransom
notes, forged contracts, forged wills, fake ID's and
passports and any other form of writing or printed material.
The analysis of someone's handwriting is most commonly
used to prove that two documents were written by the
same person. When looking at a person's handwriting,
the examiners usually look for personalised characteristics
under four areas including line quality, form, content
and arrangement. |
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| Writing
Comparison |
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The form of writing involves
examining the shape of singular letters and
identifying if the slant is in a certain direction,
the size and how they are connected with the
next letter. Unusual characteristics, such as
the use of a plus sign or the ampersand (&)
are also noted. Examining the content of written
and printed papers is done to identify similarities
between punctuation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary
and paragraph phrasing.
Document examiners compare
unidentified documents with a 'standard', a
sample from a suspect. A standard is usually
produced by the suspect under supervision. Even
under supervision, the suspect still has the
chance to disguise their handwriting, which
is why investigators then have to collect other
standards of casual handwriting from a suspect.
The casual handwriting is undisguised and can
therefore be compared with the unknown sample
either with words that match or letter-by-letter.
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Handwriting can be both manually examined, as
well as using the computer. Photo courtesy of
Californian
Association of Criminalists. |
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| Techniques |
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| Initially, comparisons
are done with the naked
eye or with a hand held lens, however, the methods
used today are by far more accurate. Special lighting
can help to reveal small, but useful details about how
a document was altered or created. Angled lights identify
indents
on the paper, which suggests that a signature was traced
and also shows the roughness left on the paper after
an eraser has been used. Backlighting makes areas where
an eraser has been used, turn lighter and makes correction
fluids dark. Examination using an infrared
spectroscope can identify if ink, that appears
the same colour, is actually from a different source
by giving each colour a different cipher. |
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| Analysing
Print |
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| Faxed,
typed, printed and photocopied papers can also
be analysed. A typewriter whose letters have been
worn down can identify a specific machine the
criminal used. A laser printer accumulates small
marks on its light sensitive drum that appear
on every printed document as minute black dots
and photocopiers also replicate these marks, as
well as any dirt on the document or the copier's
glass. The header on a fax document also contains
details of the machine it came from and the machine
it is going to. If the information in the header
is forged or changed in any way, an analysis of
the writing can reveal what make and model the
machine is. The composition of the ink, paper,
glue or fastenings can be used when comparing
a number of documents and dating the document |
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Differing fonts and specific print patterns can
identify a printer or typewriter. Photo courtesy
of www.morguefile.com.
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| Voice
Analysis |
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