EXPERIMENT : 6

AIM: 

Proving the authenticity of a Questioned Document (Forgery) by comparison with Submitted Documents on the basis of individual and class characteristics.

MATERIAL REQUIRED:

1.      Questioned Document

2.      Requested

3.      Collected Document

4.      Magnifying Glass

THEORY:

Any probable material bearing any kind of marks, signs, or symbols, conveying or intended to convey any sort of meaning to anybody is considered as a document. It can be a handwritten note, machine-generated document, currency, graffiti, seals, wills, contracts, etc. The expert examiner whose job is to evaluate the questioned document and check for its authenticity is called a forensic document examiner and the discipline that deals with the analysis of a forensic document is called forensic document examination.

Human beings, as their age proceeds, picks up several characteristics while developing handwriting traits. This, in terms of science, is termed as graphical maturity. The class characteristics are the ones which may pose little similarity between 2 persons but what actually differentiate these 2 handwritings are the individual characteristics. These variations are affected by external as well as internal factors. External factors are writing surface, pen position, writer position, type of writing instrument, temperature, whereas internal factors are age, medications, substance abuse, poor health, nervousness, stress, fatigue. Even the same thing written by the same individual again such as a signature will not be an exact same copy of the original one. This is one of the main factors to prove the authenticity of any document.

The document that is disputed is called a questioned document. It is compared against a requested or a collected sample. Requested samples are the ones which are produced anew after the instructions of the investigator whereas collected samples are the ones that consists of pre-written sources such as signed receipts, diaries, letters, etc.

Characteristics like lack of fluency in execution, form inconsistency, pen strokes at different positions, evidence of tremor, etc. represents forgery. An expert of handwriting must possess a keen eye to detail in order to trace these minute differences in order to prove the authenticity of any document. Forgeries may be done by different methods such as simulated forgery, traced forgery, free hand forgery, lifted forgery, and many more.   

PRINCIPLE:

Document examination is basically the study and examination of disputed document. It is based on the principle that if 2 items possess similar characteristics in nature by co-incidence without showing any disparity then they are considered to be similar. Therefore, comparison of documents is carried out to prove the authenticity of it on the basis of its possessed characteristics.

PROCEDURE:

1.      Disputed document as retrieved is submitted and further is referred to as questioned document.

2.      Suspected person is asked to produce a writing of the matter as present in the questioned document in presence of the investigator, referred to as requested writing.

3.      Another set of writing with similar matter and if not similar then almost similar is submitted which is pre-written unknowingly by the suspect, and hence is known as collected writing.

4.      Analysis of the writings is done and the attributes of the questioned document is compared against that of the submitted writings.

5.      Final result is concluded on the basis of comparison of individual and class characteristics of the writing in the disputed document against that of submitted writings.

OBSERVATION:

Following are the photographs taken of the writings in question:

Exhibit-1

Exhibit-2

These are the photographs of the submitted writings:

Requested writing

Collected writing

Comparisons were made with respect to each letter. Characteristics such as pen strokes, pen pressure, connecting strokes, rhythm and slant, letter formations, etc. were analyzed. Natural variations were identified with utmost detail and class and individual characteristics were noted.

FORENSIC SIGNIFICANCE:

For almost over 10 decades, the examination of documents has been an integral part of forensic science. Many techniques still in use today have developed a long time ago. Although with evolution in the techniques of handwriting, these techniques also have evolved simultaneously, as the methods of forgery are no longer the same, as were used back in the time. Document examination holds a lot of significance in the field of forensics as document forgeries are no rare crime and even a single forgery could be used to do a lot of damage. Therefore, to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the documents, document examination should be done with utmost care and detail.

PRECAUTIONS:

1.      Questioned documents should be collected and stored properly by maintaining a proper chain of custody and should be kept from tampering.

2.      Submitted writings should contain similar matter as contained in the questioned document so as to facilitate the comparison.

RESULT:

Harshita Niranjan

Volunteer

Applied Forensic Research Sciences