NCJ Number
139781
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 1702-1705
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the method used to determine whether the handwritten portions of documents authored by the same person were written during the same time frame or were added later.
Abstract
Four documents, each consisting of two pages, were submitted for examination. Analysis of the writing inks began with a microscopic examination of the ink lines. This was done to determine the type of ink and writing instrument. Although the inks were found to have the same formula, certain paragraphs were visually different. The ink strokes in the final sentence or paragraph of each of the four documents appeared different from the remaining entries. Close visual and microscopic analysis indicated that the ink lines in those entries were thinner than the ink lines in the sentences that preceded them. The line strokes in the final sentences averaged .07 mm thinner than the sentences which preceded them. Based on the width differences of these entries and the indentations developed, it was determined that, even though the ink formulas were the same, the last sentences had been written at a different time, under different conditions, and possibly with a different writing instrument than the rest of the documents. 2 figures and 6 references