When crime scene investigators (CSI) find a document that is part of a crime, a forensic handwriting analyst must determine whether the handwriting is consistent with the person suspected of writing it or whether the handwriting is a falsification.
To make this determination, the handwriting examiner will require several standard handwriting samples, gold rules as it is called, in order to get an idea of the person’s writing style and determine whether or not that person wrote the questionable note. To make matters worse, standard writing samples may have been created with a different writing instrument and at different events surrounding the document. Therefore, making comparisons of a challenged document with a known writing sample in another document may be impossible.
If not usable unsolicited standard Handwriting samples, existing handwriting samples known to be authentic, the forensic handwriting analyst then asks the suspected author to provide a handwriting sample while using a pen or pencil and paper similar to the questioned document so that the forensic investigator can establish what it is. known as requested standard handwriting sign.
Unsolicited standards are advantageous for several reasons. The most important reason is that unsolicited samples reveal the true writing style of the writer and reveal words and phrases that the writer uses regularly. This can be used as strong evidence against the writer. For example, old documents and letters may contain keyword phrases that are consistent with those used in a suicide note. The main disadvantage of unsolicited standard write samples is that they must also be authenticated. If they cannot be directly linked to the perpetrator, they are of little value to the criminal investigator.
It is a fact that handwriting styles change throughout our lives. Therefore, examiners attempt to obtain writing samples from documents written by an alleged author that are consistent with when a questioned document was apparently written. Suppose an examiner is asked to determine whether a 15-year handwritten document, such as a will, is authentic and whether it was actually written by the apparent author. The forensic writing analyst will be required to examine other documents written by the apparent writer from 15 years ago because those documents will be consistent with his writing style from that time period when the will was prepared.
The biggest advantage of the requested handwriting samples is that they are already authentic. The forensic handwriting examiner visually inspects the person who writes their name. The investigator may also request that the person write a specific sentence similar to that found in a questioned document so that the examiner can make comparisons between the two sentences verbatim. Sometimes the questioned document contains information that the examiner does not want to reveal to the suspect. In this case, the examiner asks the suspect to write a sentence containing keyword phrases that were used in the questioned document.
Requested handwriting samples also have their downsides. Some people get nervous and therefore focus too much on providing a writing sample. This can lead to unusual anomalies in the way they normally write and sign their names. For this reason, there are minimal changes that make it difficult to make an accurate comparison.
The suspected author may also knowingly attempt to disguise his writing style so that his handwriting sample does not match the writing on a forged check, will, or some other questioned document. It is unfortunate to the handwriting examiner that the suspect succeeds in changing his writing style in such a way that it is difficult to obtain a consistent match.
One way to avoid this problem is to have the suspect write a large amount of content on multiple pages. Although changing your style is easy when writing short sentences, the more you write on multiple pages, the more conscious changes will make way for your normal writing. Verbally repeating the same content to the alleged writer multiple times is another trick handwriting analysts use to suppress attempts by anyone to disguise their normal writing style. With each attempt, the suspect is more likely to wear different styles. An enthusiastic examiner then discovers the hidden elements of your writing style and the devices the perpetrator used to hide them within the requested writing before the comparison is made.
Criminal investigators are not concerned about a suspect’s reluctance to provide a handwriting sample. One might think that providing a handwriting sample would violate the Fifth Amendment which states that a person has the right not to incriminate themselves. According to the US Supreme Court, in one case, Gilbert v. the state of california, the handwriting is part of the identifying physical characteristics that are not protected by the Fifth Amendment. Therefore, the court can order a suspect to provide a handwriting standard even if he is reluctant.