Forensic Questioned Document Examinations - Essay Example

Forensic question document examination is an important part of forensics for a number of reasons. For one, forensic question document examination enables forensic specialists to best determine who has committed a crime by examining things, such as handwriting and other written documents. In such cases where documents have been forged, forensic question document examination is very important, as handwriting can be matched, and the person whose handwriting has been forged can be free of blame. The one doing the forging, on the other hand, will receive due punishment. Forensic question document examination is also used to analyze documents that are being disputed. For instance, if there is any question that a document is legitimate, then a question document examiner will analyze the document to determine its validity. This is especially necessary in cases where fraud may be present. In some instances, question document examiners are asked to be witnesses in cases (Koppenhaver, 2007; Southeastern Association of Forensic Document Examiners 2010). To have a clear analysis of forensic question document examination, it is fitting that we look at both the advantages and the disadvantages of this element of forensics. First, we will analyze the advantages of question document examination. One advantage to using question document examination is that this element of forensics can enable forensic personnel to extract a number of very elaborate and extremely valuable details that will aid in speedily solving crimes and determining whether or not a particular document is fraudulent or valid. . There are a number of different technologies that facilitate this. For instance, there are techniques to determine what types of inks are used to write documents, which not only works wonders in determining validity but can also point to a particular suspect. Techniques, such as “high performance liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopy with principal components analysis and linear discriminate analysis” facilitate the forensic classification of inks from various ballpoint pins (Kher, 2006). . When one knows the type of ink that has been used to write documents, this will possibly narrow down suspects because efforts will then be focused on analyzing documents written in only that particular ink and looking with pens that contain that particular ink at the crime scene, which will bring forensic personnel one step closer to solving the case. Then, there are the numerous analysis techniques and various technologies that enable forensic question document examiners to pinpoint the author of a document, the one signing a signature, the circumstances under which the document was written, and its origin. For signature analysis and to determine whether or not an individual’s signature was forged or is legitimate, various technologies, such as Wavelets and Back-propagation Neural Networks, enable question document examiners to obtain a very detailed analysis of the signatures that are being compared. These technologies permit forensic document examiners to determine the angle of the pen when the signature was being written, as well as the pen pressure patterns. These technologies are almost one hundred percent accurate, as no two individuals’ pressure patterns are alike, and these technologies allow for signature matches to take place so these details can be compared (Lejtman and George, 2001). To determine the origin of a document and the circumstances under which a document was written, question document examiners look for various details, such as what type of printer produced the document, the type of typewriter used if any was used, the handwriting patterns (Each individual has his/her own unique handwriting patterns, whether the individual should write in print or in cursive. No two people write in the same fashion. Furthermore, it is easy to determine if an individual wrote a document under duress or in fear, as the handwriting will most certainly be different in these circumstances.)and the type of photocopier used if any was used. Concerning this, a document titled “Forensic Document Examination” states, “The examination of questioned documents consists of the analysis and comparison of questioned handwriting, hand printing, typewriting, commercial printing, photocopies, papers, inks, and other documentary evidence with known material in order to establish the authenticity of the contested material as well as the detection of alterations (American Board of Forensic Document Examiners, 2010). All of these things are no doubt, very important when it comes to question document examination. Though question document examination has been immensely successful in solving a number of crimes and has served well in determining the validity of documents, there are a few disadvantages. One disadvantage of forensic question document examination is that it may be difficult to determine what handwriting belongs to which individual. The reason that this may be difficult is because there are some individuals who will put a great deal of thought into committing crime, thus will practice extensively at disguising their handwriting by concentrating carefully. While many attempts to do this have been proven to be very unsuccessful, some have managed to get away with it, nevertheless (O’Conner, 2006). Another notable disadvantage of forensic question document examination is that experts in this field will have increasing difficulties as our society becomes progressively more paperless and as technologies become more advanced. This will result in a need for more advanced techniques for analysis and older ones to go out-of-date. For instance, while it is common that forensic question document examiners will focus on the type of typewriter, printer, or copier used, as well as the type of inks and pens used, focuses will have to be shifted to technologies that are increasingly becoming complex, such as optical character readers, laser printers, the enhancement of blurred or distorted images via the use of the computer, and sheet feeders among many (Global Digital Forensics, 2005; Kelly and Lindblom, 2006; Tamber, 2006). Not to mention, as electronic signatures are increasingly being used, new challenges will be presented as signatures can end up becoming distorted (Keit, Palaniappan, & Takeda, 2001). Though this particular element of forensics may have a few disadvantages, it is a viable one, nonetheless. Question document examination has played a major role for centuries in solving some serious crimes and has enabled criminals to receive due punishment and victims to receive the justice that they deserve. As technology progresses and as more complex techniques are developed, question document examination will, no doubt, improve. There will be better ways to determine the validity of documents and better technology will come about that will enable better handwriting analysis, as well as the analysis of a variety of different documents which will, in turn, solve cases. The future is very promising for this element of forensics. References American Board of Forensic Document Examiners. (2010). Forensic Document Examination: Frequently Asked Questions. In abfde.org. Retrieved from http://www.abfde.org/fde.htm Global Digital Forensics. (2005.). Computer Forensic FAQ. In evestigate.com. Retrieved from http://www.evestigate.com/Computer%20Forensics%20FAQ.htm Keit, T. H., Palaniappan, R., & Takeda, F. (2001). Signature Verification System using Pen Pressure for Internet and E-Commerce Application. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3A-0M4QOLMMR0J%3Aciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.129.8344%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+Pen+Pressure+as+an+Identifying+Characteristic+of+Signatures%3A+Verification+from+the+Computer&hl=en&gl=us Kelly, J. S., & Lindblom, B. S. (2006). Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents. CRC Press. Koppenhaver, K. M. (2007). Forensic Document Examination: Principles and Practice. New York: Springer-Verlag New York, LLC. Kher, A. (2006, March). Vibrational Spectroscopy. Science Direct, 40(2), 270-277. Lejtman, D. Z., & George, S. E. (2001). On-line Handwritten Signature Verification Using Wavelets And Back-propagation Neural Networks. Sixth International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, 0992. OConner, T. (2006, September 30). Questioned Document Examination. In Megalinks in Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3210/3210lect08.htm SOUTHEASTERN ASSOCIATION OF FORENSIC DOCUMENT EXAMINERS. (2010). what is Forensic Document Examination. In safde.org. Retrieved from http://www.safde.org/whatwedo.htm Tamber, C. (2006, July 17). Forensics document examination enters the electronic age. In BNet. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20060717/ai_n16538014/ Read More