Examination Of Handwriting Research Articles

Актуальные проблемы современной практики проведения судебно-почерковедческой экспертизы и пути их преодоления

Актуальные проблемы современной практики проведения судебно-почерковедческой экспертизы и пути их преодоления

ТАКТИЧНИЙ АРСЕНАЛ СЛІДЧОГО: СИСТЕМИ ТАКТИЧНИХ ПРИЙОМІВ ОДЕРЖАННЯ ЕКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНИХ ЗРАЗКІВ ПОЧЕРКУ ТА ПІДПИСІВ

У статті досліджено норми діючого законодаства з питань тактики відібрання експериментальних зразків почерку та підписів в умовах протидії, при проведенні судово-почеркознавчих експертиз. Здійснена розробка системи тактичних прийомів та криміналістичних рекомендаций з подолання й попередження протидії осіб, що перевіряються, яка забезпечувала б, швидкість та результативність вирішення завдань досудового слідства та судового процесу при проведенні судово-почеркознавчих експертиз
 Ключові слова: судово-почеркознавча експертиза, зразки почерку й підписів, відібрання проведенню почеркознавчої експертизи, системи тактичних прийомів зразків, протидія.

The potential of collaborative learning as a tool for forensic students: Application to signature examination

Transferring theoretical knowledge to practical skills remains a big challenge in forensic science, especially in questioned documents. The examination of handwriting and signatures requires years of practice to develop the necessary skills. While students (and to some extent the general population) often have the impression that it is easy to differentiate handwriting from different persons, in practice, particularly when dealing with simulated signatures, there is a high risk of reaching a wrong conclusion when questioned document experts do not use a systematic approach and/or are not sufficiently experienced (see for example the famous French Dreyfus case). Thus, a novel teaching approach, based on collaborative learning, has been introduced in a theoretical handwriting class to improve the students’ theoretical knowledge, and additionally make them aware of the limitations of their practical skills and give them tools to improve them in their future practice. Through five activities, the students took the roles of victims, forgers, teachers and experts and created their own learning materials (i.e. signatures and mock casework). During those interactive activities, they learned to describe their signature’s characteristics, intra-variability and complexity, and thus evaluate their own signature’s vulnerability (as potential victims). They learned techniques to simulate signatures and detect the resulting forgeries’ characteristics (in the role of forgers). In the role of teachers, they prepared mock casework scenarios and gave feedback to their colleague’s examination of the produced material. As experts, they carried out signature examination as they would in a proficiency test and were exposed to the difficulties an actual expert may encounter in practice. The evaluation of this novel teaching scenario was very positive, as students learned more extensively the possibilities and limitations of signature comparison. They were more active and motivated in their learning experiences. The teaching team also had an improved experience. Some students complained of an increased workload and imprecise instructions. Improvements were tested and are discussed in this paper.

Ways of Concealment for Iatrogenic Crimes, Traces of Their Commission and Forensic Methods of Their Identification

The article discusses specific features of the ways of concealing iatrogenic crimes and traces indicating them. Concealment of information, destruction of crime traces, falsification of medical records, staging and mixed methods of concealment form a system of ways to cover up such crimes. It is noted that there is a direct correlation between the methods of concealment of iatrogenic crimes and the severity of the consequences for the patient. The greater the harm done to the victim, the more sophisticated the concealment methods are used to evade criminal liability. The need is recognized to create specific research methodologies for the destroyed traces and ways and tools of destruction of physical sources of information as well as the methodologies for forensic handwriting and technical examination of the falsified medical documents, forensic computer analysis of the altered digital data related to the event under investigation.The evidence of the ways of the iatrogenic crimes’ and their traces’ cover-up are used when initiating leads and planning the investigation, choosing the techniques of interrogation, search, examination and some other investigatory actions. The solution and effective investigation of iatrogenic crimes require knowledge of the existing ways of concealing them, as well as of the methods of their detection and exposure.

The development of a program for characterizing forensic handwriting examiners’ expertise–signature examination pilot study

Criticisms levelled at forensic handwriting examina tion expertise have focused on the clear lack of validation evidence offered to substantiate the claims of its practitioners. In general, expertise can be thought of as a skill that is more developed in the specialist than in the lay person. This paper out lines the shift in the process for delineating, and in time articulating, the nature of the expertise claimed within the Australian and New Zealand government and police document examination communities. A pilot study is presented where we com pared the opinions regarding the authorship of one hundred and fifty questioned signatures between seven government trained document examiners and eight lay persons. It was found that the government trained document examiners were statistically better at accurately determining the authorship of questioned signatures than were the lay group. Purchase Article - $10

The computational analyses of handwriting in individuals with psychopathic personality disorder.

The main aim of the present study was to examine several parameters of handwriting in order to identify the putative specific patterns of writing associated with psychopathic personality disorder. The hypothesis-generating study was carried out with the use of Mann-Whitney U test to compare two groups of prisoners, without p-value, effect size, and confidence intervals for effect size. The handwriting samples were obtained from two groups of individuals: prisoners diagnosed with psychopathic personality (n = 50), prisoners without psychopathic personality disorder (n = 30). Two groups were matched in terms of intellectual level, age, and education. The examined handwriting samples were identical. To examine graphical parameters such as structure, proportions, density, inter-spaces, and impulse, the computer programs GlobalGraf were used. This software is employed by Polish Forensic Association. The inter-group comparisons of graphical parameters have shown there is no significant difference (95% confidence intervals for the effect sizes included 0, or negative numbers) in handwriting between prisoners with psychopathic personality disorder and prisoners without this disorder. Logistic regression has been calculated to show whether any handwriting patterns allow to predict psychopathic personality disorder. Results indicate that participants with psychopathic personality disorder do not exhibit significant motor impairments manifesting in structural, density, topographic, proportions, letter spacing, and impulse features of handwriting. This suggests, contrary to many beliefs related to graphology, that psychopathic personality cannot be identified on the basis of computational forensic examination of handwriting.

Forensic examination of handwriting and thumb impression-A case study

Handwriting Science and Finger Print examination both are significant branches of Forensic Science. This article illustrates one of the important cases related to cheating by impersonation in constable recruitment examination. The case was submitted in Central Forensic Science Laboratory CBI, New Delhi for examination and opinion on handwritings as well as finger thumb impressions with detailed questionnaires. Inter see examination and comparison of questioned document with standard document reveals that both the sets were consistent in detailed characteristic features and execution of strokes in construction of letter and their combination in words. The authorship of questioned documents was matched with the supplied specimen documents. Also, the questioned thumb impressions were compared with the standard thumb impression and were found consistent between both the sets. The case was examined thoroughly by applying the principle of handwriting science and finger thumb impression. The case was successfully solved on the basis of forensic analysis of handwritings and finger thumb impressions. The scientific evidence was produced during court testimony by the experts and opinion was accepted in the court of law and finally the suspected person was convicted. Keywords: Questioned document examination, Thumb impression, Forensic examination.

On the Form and Content of a Forensic Handwriting Expert’s Opinion

The content of a forensic handwriting expert’s opinion has been holding attention of both research scientists and practicing experts for many decades now since it is not only an essential evidence in court often being crucial to deciding on a case but also a document bringing together procedural and scientific methodological elements. Forensic handwriting examination is much in demand for court, it is also profoundly and comprehensively developed, supported by detailed methodological recommendations on drafting and processing of an expert’s opinion. However, the analysis of experts’ opinions from state forensic institutions as well as from non-state brought to light several shortcomings which do not enhance their evidentiary status. This applies in particular to performing the forensic examination by non-state experts who tend to lack competence. At the same time the number of forensic handwriting examinations assigned by court to the non-state forensic institutions prevails significantly.The most common mistakes made by the handwriting experts when drafting opinions are reviewed in the article, some ways to resolve them are proposed. The need to provide methodological recommendations for forensic handwriting experts incorporating current requirements to the experts’ opinions is acknowledged.

Typical Mistakes in Forensic Handwriting Analysis of Copies of Handwritten Entries

The growing volume of forensic handwriting examinations of handwritten requisites copies entails the need to determine the range of the most typical mistakes made by experts in examination of these objects. The article gives examples of the most common mistakes in expert reports, the origin of some is analyzed. The system of internal and external forms of peer review of the ENFSI (The European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) experts’ conclusions is reviewed. To avoid most of mistakes described in the article the author proposes to follow relevant methodological references, to pay close attention to the quality of the examined object, to adhere strictly to all intermediate stages of examination. Also, to use internal and external peer review of conclusions as a form of control more effectively. The information contained in the article can be of practical interest when both reviewing conclusions in state expert institutions and preparing a value judgement regarding an expert/specialist conclusion.

ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЕ ПРИНЦИПЫ АЛЕКСЕЯ НАСЕДКИНА В РУСЛЕ МОСКОВСКОЙ ФОРТЕПИАННОЙ ШКОЛЫ

The article deals with the pedagogical principles of one of the leading professors of Moscow Conservatory - Alexei Nasedkin. Basing on the memories and testimonies of his students, as well as the graphological examination of handwriting and unique documents of Moscow Conservatory Archives, Nasedkin’s teaching style was partially recreated, which is linked inextricably with his human qualities and performing appearance. The analysis of the musician’s basic pedagogical views reveals their close relationship with Moscow pianistic tradition in the person of the colleagues-predecessors - A. Goldenweiser, K. Igumnov, H. Neuhaus and S. Feinberg.

Competency for Chinese Handwriting and Signature Examination.

Chinese characters had their root some 4000 years ago and, with the growth in population, are used by over 1.3 billion people worldwide today; it is inevitable that document examiners would encounter cases involving the examination of Chinese handwriting regardless of their location. Although there are extensive studies on the examination of English handwriting in the literature, similar studies on Chinese handwriting are relatively limited. We are seeking to explore the obstacles and challenges for a document examiner who is unfamiliar with Chinese characters to apply the principles of identification and elimination of authorship described in the literature to examine Chinese handwriting, and how can these document examiners demonstrate their competency for conducting Chinese handwriting examination. This study provides a review of the literature, compares the methodology and key features in English and Chinese handwriting examination, and describes various workshops and proficiency testing programs organized to assist document examiners seeking development in Chinese handwriting and signature examination.

MAIN METHODICAL PROVISIONS AND FEATURES OF PERFORMING REPEATED HANDWRITING EXAMINATIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

The paper is devoted to the general technique of research when performing repeated handwriting examinations in the Republic of Armenia which has the features inherent to all stages of expert research. It’s underlined that at the preparatory stage of research the experts, to whom the performance of a repeated examination is entrusted, should clarify a number of the circumstances important only for the repeated researches. Importance of repeated handwriting examination for the purpose of excluding inspector and court doubts concerning the primary conclusions and explanation of the reasons for discrepancies in the experts’ conclusions is noted. The paper pays special attention that in the deep and qualified analysis of an expert conclusion who performed a primary examination and in the case of discrepancy of the primary and repeated examination conclusions, the inspector and court are given with the possibility to estimate correctly both conclusions. It’s underlined that a primary goal of a handwriting expert at the stage of separate research of an object consists in revealing separate, most significant signs inherent for a definite handwriting and identification totality of signs which would individualize handwriting of a certain person. The expert evaluates the handwriting signs at all stages of the conducted research, but evaluation acquires the greatest significance after carrying out comparative research when a certain amount of coincident and/or differing signs is already revealed and the expert should define their identification importance and sufficiency for a conclusion. The attention is paid that materiality of a sign, though being an objective category, but subjective factor at identification research plays of no small important role and in the case when the expert does not possess profound knowledge in the field of forensic handwriting, sufficient experience, accuracy of visual perceptions he may come to incorrect conclusions.

Assessment of signature handwriting evidence via score-based likelihood ratio based on comparative measurement of relevant dynamic features

This paper extends on previous research on the extraction and statistical analysis on relevant dynamic features (width, grayscale and radian combined with writing sequence information) in forensic handwriting examinations. In this paper, a larger signature database was gathered, including genuine signatures, freehand imitation signatures, random forgeries and tracing imitation signatures, which are often encountered in casework. After applying Principle Component Analysis (PCA) of the variables describing the proximity between specimens, a two-dimensional kernel density estimation was used to describe the variability of within-genuine comparisons and genuine–forgery comparisons. We show that the overlap between the within-genuine comparisons and the genuine–forgery comparisons depends on the imitated writer and on the forger as well. Then, in order to simulate casework conditions, cases were simulated by random sampling based on the collected signature dataset. Three-dimensional normal density estimation was used to estimate the numerator and denominator probability distribution used to compute a likelihood ratio (LR). The comparisons between the performance of the systems in SigComp2011 (based on static features) and the method presented in this paper (based on relevant dynamic features) showed that relevant dynamic features are better than static features in terms of accuracy, false acceptance rate, false rejection rate and calibration of likelihood ratios.

Critical Issues Affecting the Reliability and Admissibility of Handwriting Identification Opinion Evidence How They Have Been Addressed (or Not) Since the 2009 NAS Report, and How They Should Be Addressed Going Forward: A Document Examiner Tells All

This article endeavors to improve awareness and enhance the legal and judicial responses to critically flawed evidence from handwriting experts by providing lawyers and trial judges with guidelines for determining when evidence from even presumptively well-qualified handwriting experts is unreliable and should be excluded. Part I discusses the need to replace the foundational tenets that have traditionally been espoused to support the discipline of forensic handwriting analysis with less absolutist statements derived from principles of neuroscience and human motor control theory. Part II provides an overview of the essential requirements for performing reliable forensic handwriting examinations, which lawyers and judges need to know and practitioners should adhere to. Part III seeks to illuminate the impact of cognitive bias on forensic handwriting analysis by discussing the biasing influences that can improperly taint and sway an examiner’s decision-making process and render unreliable his or her opinions and testimony, and by providing an overview of the various methods and techniques available for minimizing, if not eliminating, such adverse influences. Part IV examines the three different types of forensic casework peer review (administrative, technical and verification) and why testimony concerning any type of “review” performed by a non-testifying expert constitutes improper bolstering and/or inadmissible hearsay. Part V discusses the gatekeeping obligation imposed upon trial judges to screen and exclude unreliable evidence proffered by handwriting experts and what lawyers need to do, but all too often fail to do, to facilitate the judge’s role as gatekeeper. Several appellate court decisions are reviewed to illustrate instances of unreliable handwriting identification opinion evidence that escaped recognition and successful challenge at the trial level, as well as one recent district court case in which the proffered testimony of a handwriting expert was properly excluded by the gatekeeper. Finally, Part VI concludes with the author’s thoughts and perspectives on what can and should be done to further enhance the reliability of handwriting identification opinion evidence that is presented in civil and criminal cases, and what is needed to remedy the inequality of resources in criminal cases that effectively deprives defendants and their counsel of the ability to acquire the expertise needed to properly expose flaws and weaknesses in opinion evidence proffered by prosecution experts.

The Modular Forensic Handwriting Method - 2016 Version

Overview: 
 This document provides a summary of a practical method that can be used to compare handwriting (whether text-based or signatures) in the forensic environment. It is intended to serve as an approach to forensic handwriting examination for practitioners actively involved in casework, or for those interested in investigating general aspects of the practice of forensic handwriting examination (for example researchers, academics and legal professionals). The method proposed does not cover in detail all aspects of the examination of handwriting. It does, however, form the framework of forensic handwriting methodology in the government environment in Australia and New Zealand as represented by the Document Examination Specialist Advisory Group (DocSAG).
 It is noted from the outset that handwriting is examined using complex human perceptual and cognitive processes that can be difficult to accurately and validly describe in written form since, for the most part, these processes are hidden. What is presented here is the agreed general approach that DocSAG practitioners use in the majority of the comparisons that they carry out. The method is based around a flow diagram which structures the comparison process and provides the reader with a guide as to the significant landmark stages commonly worked through in practical handwriting examinations. Where decision points occur within the course of the method flow diagram a series of modules have been developed which describe the nature of the decision under consideration and address relevant theoretical and practical issues. Each module is, as far as is practical, independent of other modules in the method. This assists in facilitating changes in the process over time that may result from theoretical, practical or technological advances in the field.
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Interview with Bryan Found, Bsc DipEd GradDipNeuroSci PhD - A Discussion of Issues Around Human Factors and Bias in Forensic Handwriting Examinations:

Since the late 1980s, Dr. Bryan Found, the Chief Forensic Scientist at the Office of the Chief Forensic Scientist, Victoria Police Forensic Services Department in Australia, has accomplished more than any other researcher in the world to develop the science of handwriting identification. He has been an unrelenting advocate for not permitting biasing or context irrelevant information to enter into forensic handwriting examinations. Since the late 1980s, Dr. Found has been invited to over 20 countries to present workshops on the science of handwriting individualization and on human factors. Most recently he was invited to be a speaker for a plenary session at the International Symposium on Forensic Science Error Management sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in July 2015. He, along with his colleagues, have published over 40 peer- reviewed forensic scientific journal articles (including the Journal of Forensic Document Examination (JFDE)), 44 conference abstracts, and three invited book and encyclopaedia chapters. Dr. Found is currently the Chief Forensic Scientist for one of the world’s largest multi-disciplinary laboratories where he continues to see that laboratory develops and maintains the highest standards for forensic laboratories. These standards include educating practitioners, staff members, investigators, and attorneys about cognitive factors that include the potential impact of exposing practitioners to domain irrelevant context information. JFDE Editor interviewed Dr. Found to learn the importance of understanding how cognitive factors come into play in handwriting examinations and what procedures forensic handwriting examiners can consider to reduce the potential for bias and human errors.
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Bayes factor for investigative assessment of selected handwriting features

This paper extends previous research [1] on the use of multivariate continuous data in comparative handwriting examinations, notably for gender classification. A database has been constructed by analyzing the contour shape of loop characters of type a and d by means of Fourier analysis, which allows characters to be described in a global way by a set of variables (e.g., Fourier descriptors). Sample handwritings were collected from right- and left-handed female and male writers. The results reported in this paper provide further arguments in support of the view that investigative settings in forensic science represent an area of application for which the Bayesian approach offers a logical framework. In particular, the Bayes factor is computed for settings that focus on inference of gender and handedness of the author of an incriminated handwritten text. An emphasis is placed on comparing the efficiency for investigative purposes of characters a and d.

The application of desktop video magnifier technology to Museums and Archives

Assistive technology developed for blind and partially sighted people can find wider application in the museum workplace. Ease of operation, combined with high lev- els of potential magnification and object sympathetic light sources add to the utility of desktop video magnifiers. As well as assisting in day to day paper-based office tasks, the magnifier finds application in various archival tasks and collections-based work. This equipment enhances the visitor experience of looking at archival material, both for the visually impaired and the general visitor. In particular, it helps with the study of smaller documents and photographs. It also assists in the examination of old handwriting, and in particular hand written ink script which has begun to fade with time.

Boccherini Studies 3 (review)

Boccherini Studies 3. Edited by Christian Speck and published in association with the Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini-Onlus. Bologna: Ut Orpheus, 2011. [ix, 283 p. ISBN 9788881094752. i55.95.] Music examples, facsimiles, tables, index. With three installments of Boccherini Studies now before the public, the editorial committee is clearly making good progress toward its stated goal, to close the large gap in the music-historical and musicological studies dedicated to the (http://www.luigiboccherini.org/bstudies .html, accessed 5 June 2012). While Boccherini Studies is certainly bringing much valuable research to the fore, one could hardly say that the composer has been neglected in recent years, with at least three important book-length studies dedicated to him in the past decade ( Jaime Tortella, Boccherini: Un musico italiano en la Espana ilustrada [Madrid: Sociedad Espanola de Musicologia, 2002]; Remigio Coli, Luigi Boccherini: vita e le opera [Lucca: Maria Pacini Fazzi, 2005]; and Elisabeth Le Guin, Boccherini's Body: An Essay in Carnal Musicology [Berkeley: University of Cali - fornia Press, 2006]), not to mention numerous journal articles and a new, revised version of Gerard's thematic catalogue (Catalogue of the Works of Luigi Boccherini, compiled by Yves Gerard [London: Oxford University Press, 1969]) scheduled for publication in 2012. Building on the work of volumes 1 and 2 (2007 and 2009), Boccherini Studies 3 covers a broad range of topics, but with a special focus on issues of authorship and authenticity. With articles in Italian, German, and English, as well as untranslated quotations from source material in Spanish and French, much of the current volume is not accessible to an English-only reader. The two entries by Loukia Drosopoulou, source studies on opp. 10-13 and 17-21 (pp. 157- 68), and on the opp. 60 and 62 quintets with two violas (pp. 169-96) are the only ones in English. Four are in German. Two of these are by the volume and series editor, Christian Speck: a foreword (pp. vii-ix) and a detailed discussion of a letter from Breslau once believed to be written by Boccherini (pp. 1-16). The other two are by Christian Orth, in which he presents his theory about Boccherini's use of unison in the two cello parts in the cello quintets (pp. 251-71) and gives some further observations on his research on Boccherini's use of thumb position and clefs in cello parts (pp. 273-76) initially presented in his 2007 article Zum Daumenaufsatz in den Cello - stimmen von Boccherinis Kammer musik (Boccherini Studies 1, pp. 219-43). The remaining entries, all in Italian, include articles by Remigio Coli on the early catalogues of Boccherini's works (pp. 139-55); Fulvia Morabito on the rediscovery of manuscript sources for the guitar quintets (pp. 197-223); and Elisa Grossato on early critical comparisons of Haydn and Boccherini (pp. 225-50). The most extensive article in the volume is Morabito's La mano di Luigi Boccherini: Studio della scrittura alfabetica e musicale attraverso l'epistolario e i cataloghi autographi (pp. 17-138), a detailed examination of the composer's handwriting, looking at both his alphanumeric and musical notation. According to Morabito the need for this study became clear with the inauguration in 2005, the two hundredth anniversary of the composer's death, of the Boccherini Opera Omnia (p. 17), a new critical edition under the direction of Christian Speck, which is also being published by Ut Orpheus. So far three volumes of the Opera Omnia have appeared (vol. 1: Concert Arias (G 544-559), 2005); vol. 29: 6 Duets Op. 3 (G 56-61) for 2 Violins, 2007; and vol. 30: 6 Sonatas Op. 5 (G 25-30) for Keyboard and Violin, 2009). In his 1969 Catalogue Gerard recognized that neither he nor anyone else had mastered the identification of Boccherini's hand (Gerard, p. xv), so he was circumspect with autograph designations that had been assigned to many manuscripts scattered among libraries in Italy, Spain, France, Austria, and Germany, as well as many items in private hands, some of them difficult to access. …

Accuracy of subjective and objective handwriting assessment for differentiating Parkinson’s disease from tremulous subjects without evidence of dopaminergic deficits (SWEDDs): an FP-CIT-validated study

Handwriting examinations are commonly performed in the analysis of tremor and Parkinson's disease (PD). We analyzed the accuracy of subjective and objective assessment of handwriting samples for distinguishing 27 PD cases, 22 with tremulous PD, and five with akinetic-rigid PD, from 39 movement-disorder patients with normal presynaptic dopamine imaging (subjects without evidence of dopamine deficiency or SWEDDs; 31 with dystonic tremor (DT), six indeterminate tremor syndrome, one essential tremor, one vascular parkinsonism). All handwriting analysis was performed blind to clinical details. Subjective classification was made as: (1) micrographia, (2) normal, or (3) macrographia. In addition, a range of objective metrices were measured on standardized handwriting specimens. Subjective assessments found micrographia more frequently in PD than SWEDDs (p = 0.0352) and in akinetic-rigid than tremulous PD (p = 0.0259). Macrographia was predominantly seen in patients with dystonic tremor and not other diagnoses (p = 0.007). Micrographia had a mean sensitivity of 55 % and specificity of 84 % for distinguishing PD from SWEDDs and mean sensitivity of 90 % and specificity of 55 % for distinguishing akinetic-rigid PD from tremulous PD. Macrographia had a sensitivity of 26 % and specificity of 96 % for distinguishing DT from all other diagnoses. The best of the objective metrices increased sensitivity for the distinction of SWEDDs from PD with a reduction in specificity. We conclude that micrographia is more indicative of PD than SWEDDs and more characteristic of akinetic-rigid than tremulous PD. In addition, macrographia strongly suggests a diagnosis of dystonic tremor.