Forensic Document Examination (From Research Findings for Forensic Information Users, P 275-350, 1983, by Beth A Lipskin and Kenneth D Field - See NCJ-95057)

• NCJ Number: 95061
• Author(s): M A Casey
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 76 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-95057.

Annotation

Document examination involves the critical analysis of documents to determine authorship, whether a relationship exists between two or more items, and whether or not a document has been altered.

Abstract

These broad categories include the comparison of handwriting and hand printing; the comparison of signatures; the comparison of mechanical impressions, such as typewriters, checkwriters, hand stamps, machine stamps, printed matter and machine copies; the examination of altered documents; the restoration of charred papers; the examination of inks and papers; the decipherment of indented writings; and the examination of sequential problems. Questioned documents may become the subject of either criminal or civil litigation. Instruction in the field is provided through an apprenticeship program in a recognized questioned-document laboratory under the direct guidance of a qualified examiner. The document laboratory has a variety of equipment available, including the stereo-binocular microscope, the measuring microscope and comparison microscope, photographic equipment, typewriter test plates, and a library of related materials. Figures, a glossary, and endnotes are provided. The bibliography includes 83 items. Twenty-three legal citations are listed.