This section presents a selection of sample cases drawn from actual submissions to our office. Each case was chosen because it illustrates an important aspect of a particular forensic investigation technique; details have been changed in order to protect client confidentiality.
While these cases present a good overview of the major forensic analysis used in document examination, this short discussion makes no attempt to exhaustively present all of the tools and techniques available to us.
The charts included are typical of the illustrations routinely incorporated into our reports or presented during expert witness testimony.
Case 1: Handwriting Comparison
It is often necessary to determine whether a signature is genuine or forged. To do this the disputed signature must be compared with a representative sample of know genuine signatures. Tell Me More...
Case 2: Transferred Signature
This case example demonstrates the need to scrutinize copies. Tell Me More...
Case 3: Altered Faxes
Within the modern business community facsimile documents are accepted as readily as originals. The nature of faxes is such that alterations can easily be made. There are many aspects of a facsimile document that yield to forensic analysis. Examinations can establish whether or not the facsimile was actually transmitted from a particular machine, whether the fax was really generated on the date it bears, and whether it is an accurate reproduction of the original. Tell Me More...
Case 4: Backdated Information
In some cases a client wants to know if all of the handwriting on a page was written at the same time, or if some of it was added at a later date. Tell Me More...
Case 5: Chemical Analysis
It is possible for different inks to react similarly when examined using the Video Spectral Comparator. If VSC results are inconclusive, second-stage testing using a technique called Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) may be required. Tell Me More...