Features of handwriting can provide the necessary information about its owner, if you can connect them not only with psychological characteristics, but also with physical characteristics. This property of the manuscript is actively used by investigators and detectives to analyze written paper evidence.
Partial signs of handwriting in forensics sometimes become decisive in a case, although the method of matching handwriting and character is questioned in most cases, because letters can be diluted with calligraphic norms or deliberately stylized. In addition, writing in a hurry can be fundamentally different from writing in favorable conditions. For more reliable and informative research, there is a whole section in the criminal environment - handwriting. It takes into account all sorts of nuances and gives the most objective assessment of the subject under study, without delving into his psyche and inner world.
Handwriting Options
In forensics, the classification of handwriting features is based on 12specifications.
- Quality of lines - contours and density of letters. Some of them may smudge, change slope or thickness.
- Space - distance between letters. They can be written in a heap, evenly, not connected. It's not about the gaps between the letters, but within them.
- Height, width and size are handwriting proportions.
- Connections. Are they characteristic between letters and punctuation marks, where they are absent.
- Connecting strokes - the connection between uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Starting and ending strokes. How does the author begin and end words, hooked, with or without a lift?
- Uniqueness - any features. The writer may have a habit of embellishing their handwriting with extra curls and dashes that the average person does not use.
- Handle pressure. This gives an idea of where the author is pushing the paper harder - on ups or downs.
- Slope and its intensity. It may remain level, but a slight lean to the right is more common.
- Text position - the place where the letters are concentrated relative to the lines. They may or may not touch them exactly.
- Jewelry. These are large loops and curls. They are commonly used in lowercase greeting cards: "K", "N", "D".
- Punctuation - features of the location of dots, commas, dashes and other things.
The concept of handwriting features implies all these parameters. They make the author's style different from the rest, which makes it possible for comparative examinations and analyzes.
When expertise is needed
Signs of handwriting become a clue in some crimes. For example, in cases of kidnapping for ransom, if the kidnappers for some reason leave a paper note instead of using more modern means of communication.
An analysis of the manuscript can be useful for verifying the authenticity of a suicide note. It is possible that the man was subsequently murdered and was writing farewell words about suicide at gunpoint. Minor strokes and any deviations from the usual way of writing can testify to this.
Forgery of documents is one of the most widespread phenomena in the underworld. Sometimes the originality of literary works written by hand, works of art associated with the text, is called into question. The artist's signature on an expensive canvas can be fake.
In more twisted crimes, such as when a maniac scrawls words into a victim's body, handwriting can give investigators a chance to catch the killer.
In such cases, general and particular signs of handwriting are the key to investigating a crime.
Forensic handwriting
When there is a suspect in a crime and the evidence is a handwritten note, investigators turn to handwriting experts for help. In some cases, the handwriting of the accused and the text on the evidence match. However, there are cases when in this way the offender wanted to blame an innocentperson. How exactly is the examination carried out?
The world of forensic medicine has long used reliable technologies: DNA testing, fiber analysis, fingerprint analysis, voice identification and drug detection. Among them is the verification of handwritten materials. It is a methodical process based on extensive knowledge of how people write letters and unconsciously leave clues.
Graphology
Simultaneously with this recognized method, there is graphology - a less effective science around which disputes are unfolding. It implies the relationship of personal qualities with the manuscript. Basically, graphological experiments are labeled as meaningless and intuitive, since a definite connection between the general features of handwriting and the carrier has not been proven. Unlike graphology, handwriting is necessary for criminalists. With it, you can:
- Identify the author of the manuscripts.
- Compare papers with others and tell if the same person wrote them.
- Reveal the authenticity of the signature and verify authorship.
- Make conclusions about the place and conditions of writing.
Factors
During the forensic examination of the manuscript, the following features of handwriting are taken into account:
- Individuality.
- Stability.
- Changeability (depends on external influences).
The primary basis for handwriting analysis is that each person has a unique way of writing. As a child, everyone learned to followcalligraphy norms and formed his handwriting accordingly. Over time, a person develops individual characteristics, so most of us do not write the way we once learned.
Text uniqueness
The process of handwriting analysis when comparing two documents (one written by a known author and the other by an unknown author) does not begin with a similarity check, but with a difference check.
You need to carefully look for key differences in sufficiently individual characteristics to expose possible attempts to disguise your handwriting or copy someone else's. Naturally, the author himself may violate his own style in some cases, so it is important not to confuse a real fake with a random coincidence. While each person's handwriting is unique, no one writes exactly the same twice.
Sample analysis
This is a long, laborious and meticulous process that takes a lot of time. Under ideal conditions, there are many samples for comparison, each of which needs to be considered in detail. The purpose of the review is to look at two manuscripts and say, "They both have a C with a similar pointed tail, so the author is the same." There are currently strict rules regarding how to examine an instance. What particular signs of handwriting does the analyst study?
| Letter form | This takes into account curves, slopes, proportions and size of letters (the ratio between the height of lowercase and uppercase letters, between the height and width of one letter), the slope of the letter,the use and appearance of connecting lines between letters. It is worth noting that a person can write in different ways, depending on where the letter is in the word. Therefore, the analyst must pay attention to the example of each letter in each place. |
| Shape of lines | Includes thin and clear lines. They indicate with what speed and pressure the author writes. |
| Format | Implies letter spacing, word spacing, placement of words relative to lines and margins. Also the distance between lines, the intersection of strokes in words at different levels. |
Copy
In the general analysis method, the process begins with the first letter of the first word. The letters are written out in a table for visual comparison (if you have a digital camera and equipment, this process is much easier). The more voluminous the text, the less likely it is to confuse accident with intentional copying. Simulation is one of the most important and widespread problems in handwriting. Although it can be calculated due to unnatural trembling lines, uneven pressure, signs of caution and slowness, it makes examination very difficult.
Legendary Fake
One well-known example of handwriting forgery that experts missed is the case of Hitler's "lost" diaries.
In the 1980s, a man named Konrad Kujau (an alleged collector of Nazi memorabilia) offered a German publishing house 60 manuscripts allegedly written by AdolfHitler. The lyrics seemed genuine, and Kuyau had a good reputation, so the publishing company paid him $2.3 million. The diaries were immediately published, and the rights to them were sold to several international publications, including The London Times. It was The Times that requested professional handwriting analysis to ensure authenticity. Three world-class professionals confirmed Hitler's authorship through analysis of the ink and paper commonly used by scammers and through comparison with original manuscripts.
Later ultraviolet testing showed that the paper contained an ingredient that was not used until 1954 (Hitler died in 1945). Kuyau turned out to be an accomplished artist, having forged both letters and "original" samples, which the police used as comparative examples of particular features of Hitler's handwriting.
Perhaps the publication was a deliberate move, and not an expert blunder at all.
Difficulties
The accuracy of the examination of handwriting features is affected not only by simulation, but also by other factors:
- Could not clearly compare uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Drugs or diseases can significantly change a person's handwriting.
- The quality of the samples determines the quality of the comparison. Bad examples make it difficult to work.
The most significant disadvantage of handwriting is subjectivity. Its acceptance by the scientific community as evidence has historically been shaky. But the modern additioncomputerized systems for analyzing handwriting in the process accelerates the development of this branch of science and forensics. Signs of handwriting are becoming easier to distinguish. Therefore, it is now much easier to recognize where the original manuscript or signature is, and where the fake is.
