Forensic Techniques: Handwriting Comparison Elizabeth Stefek University of North Georgia Forensic Techniques: Handwriting Comparison Forensic Document Examination is a broad field in forensics that covers a variety of subspecialties. These areas range from signature verification, to photocopy manipulation, to stamp impressions and more. This paper will focus specifically on the specialty of handwriting comparisons. This should not be confused with handwriting analysists, or graphologists, who strive to identify a writer by determining their psychological state and personality. Those who practice handwriting comparison seek to determine the validity of a document, or if different documents were written by the same person, by the distinct characteristics of the writing. This is useful in a wide variety of criminal cases from authenticating suicide notes to determining forgeries. So, how exactly does a handwriting comparison work? Well, in order to make a comparison one must first have a writing of unknown authorship and a writing of known authorship, preferably several. There are two different types of writings that could be collected. The first type, spontaneous writing, is a writing that an author would make on a normal day. For example, a diary entry would be a spontaneous writing. The second type, requested writing, is something that an author would be asked to write for the express purpose of examiner’s comparison with other writings. Both types of standards used for comparison have some advantages and disadvantages. Spontaneous writing is done without any conscious focus on how a person writes and is therefore more likely to show a person’s unaltered way of writing. On the other hand, these writings te... ... middle of paper ... ... carpenter who lived in the U.S. for the past eleven years, matched descriptions of Dr. Condon and the service attendant, and had a $20 gold certificate with serial number matching that of the ransom money. Hauptmann admitted to making several purchases with the ransom money (FBI, 2010). With the suspect apprehended there was still the trial to go through. As soon as Hauptmann was taken into custody some samples of his writings were flown to Washington D.C., where a comparison of the samples to the ransom notes could be made. Through a comparison of several of Hauptmann’s sample writings found in his home and the thirteen ransom notes, it was concluded that Hauptmann was the same person who wrote the notes. Other circumstantial evidence was also compiled. The case went to the Supreme Court where Hauptmann was ultimately sentenced to death for his crimes (FBI, 2010).
From the first search of the nursery “a ransom note demanding $50,000 was found on the nursery window sill” (“Lindbergh Kidnapping”). This ransom letter was found to have handwriting similar to that of a German. After the case went cold for three days a second ransom note showed up, this time the price was raised to $70000 (“Lindbergh baby kidnapped”). The Lindbergh’s decided that after the second ransom note, saying that their kid was still alive, they decided it was time to pay the ransom money to save their child. They were able to negotiate with a man named John to pay the first ransom of $50,000. This transaction went down in a cemetery close to the Lindbergh house, and gave the mysterious man the nickname ‘Cemetery John’. This ransom money would later be used to find Bruno Hauptmann, the real
He was arrested after police traced a large portion of the ransom money to him. He was charged with kidnapping and murder and the baby's skull had been fractured. After further evidence the injury might actually have resulted from a fall and not from something else, since the ladder broke during the abduction. Despite allegations that some of the evidence against him was suspect, Hauptmann was convicted. In April of 1936 he was put in the electric chair and killed. In June of 1982 nearly 50 years later, Bass was contacted by an attorney representing Bruno Hauptmann's widow, Anna. Many years, Mrs. Hauptmann was still trying to clear her husband's name. Her only chance was a dozen tiny bones that were recovered from the crime scene afterward, they had been carefully preserved ever since by the New Jersey State Police. At the request of Mrs. Hauptmann an attorney, Bass drove to Trenton to see if this handful of scattered bones might show that the body had been incorrectly identified. Let them be the bones of a younger boy, an older boy, a girl of any age, she prayed that it was anyone but the bones of Charles
Bruno Hauptmann became a suspect in the investigation when Hauptmann cashed a 10-dollar ransom certificate at a gas station. The gas attendant recognize the certificate and wrote down the license plate number. Thus, authorities were able to trace the license place back to Hauptman (FBI 100: The Lindbergh Kidnapping). Prior to the gas station incident, the Lindberghs complied to the ransom demand. Doctor Condon was sent to met with a man named "John" and gave him the money. Detectives hoped to trace the money back to the kidnapper. As a result, they were successful. When checking for weapons, detectives found a $20 gold certificate in Hauptmann's pocket. Accordingly, when questioned about about the certificate, Hauptmann defended himself by claiming that he has been holding on to gold certificates for years because he feared inflation. However, the detectives were still suspicious and searched Hauptmann's apartment. Surprisingly, detectives found $13,750 of the Lindbergh ransom. The money was stashed in the floor and in the walls of the garage, which was heavily protected with solidly built door and padlock (Smith). Consequently, because of his possession of the ransom money, Hauptmann is guilty in the Lindbergh Kidnapping. There is no other explanation on why Hauptmann would have all of this money and why he would be hiding it. In addition, when searching Hauptmann's
The hand writing sample, although it may not carry much influence today, was a tool that they had at their disposal, so when similarities were found between the two letters, this gave the detectives reasonable doubt to keep investigating. Once Mr. Balestrero was identified as the robber by two of the victims the detectives had no other choice but to detain him as a suspect. Now let us place Mr. Balestrero and this exact situation 60 years later; in a time where essentially every establishment dealing in cash has a surveillance cameras, and fingerprints can be lifted off inanimate objects. The outcome would be drastically different; detectives today have tons of new technology to help gather evidence, and would have undoubtedly recognized that Mr. Balestrero was
The last type of evidence I will discuss are documents. Everyone has a different handwriting and different characteristics that make it unique. Computers are also unique in the way they type and print out things. Document examiners can look over these and establish the similarities in the handwriting and computer forensic specialists can extract logs and other data from most devices.
Forensic psychology is a continually adapting sphere. It is hard to have one solid definition for the field, as there are so many aspects that interlock. Within each attribute of the forensic psychology has roles and responsibilities to sustain. The rapid growth and emerging importance of this field volumes of information will be developed in the next decade.
Rape, murder, theft, and other crimes almost always leave a devastating mark on the victim. More often than not, it would be impossible to identify the perpetrator a crime without forensic science and the technology it uses. Forensic science allows investigators to unmask the secrets of the crime scene. Evidence gathered at the crime scene helps to identify the guilty party, murder weapon, and even the identity of the victim (Harkawy, 1991: 276). The new technologies enables the forensic experts to have better and faster access to accumulated information, to be more accurate in the identification of victims or delinquents, and minimizes the possibility of wrongful accusations. New technology has improved the methods and techniques that forensic scientists and law enforcement investigators use, in order to provide a safer environment for other people. Information technology is one of the most important aspects in forensic science. It is very important for the forensic experts to receive the undisturbed evidence, such as fingerprints left at the crime scene, as quickly as possible, for more accurate readings. Thus using space technology, such as satellite communication, enables the forensic experts to "gather and digitize evidence at the crime scene, enter it into an on-site computer, and beam the data to a crime lab for swift analysis" (Paula, 1998: 12). Therefore, due to the use of this technology, forensic experts in laboratories can examine the evidence in short time, and the possibility of damage or unlawful manipulation of the evidence before the trial is minimal (Paula, 1998: 12). More often than not, "criminals" wear gloves at the time of the crime, thus to obtain a fingerprint...
In order to understand how to compile evidence for criminal cases, we must understand the most effective types of evidence. This topic is interesting because there are ample amounts of cases where defendants have gotten off because of the lack of forensic evidence. If we believe forensic evidence is so important and it affects our decisions, then maybe we need to be educated on the reality of forensic evidence. If we can be educated, then we may have a more successful justice system. If we have a more successful justice system than the public could gain more confidence that justice will be served. In order to do this, we must find what type of evidence is most effective, this can be done by examining different types of evidence.
Olson knew that he was going to be put back in jail and was suspected on some of the other murders that he had committed.. So Olson made a deal with the prosecution. In his deal Olson' s family, (wife and son) were to be paid $10,000 for each of his victims. This was very controversial. In exchange Olson would provide the information on the known murders and gave the police direction to 6 outstanding bodies. Olson kept his part of the deal and so did the prosecution. The money was paid to Olson's family on schedule.
abducted "identified" him. Butler, who was on 10 years probation at the time for a previous rape
Linder, Douglas. “The Trial of Bruno Hauptmann.” Jurist Law. Jurist, 2002. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. Oxford, Edward. "The Other Trial Of The Century." American History 30.3 (1995):
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The police found very evident proof within Bruno Hauptmann. He had missing wood that matched the ladder and lots of Lindbergh’s ransom money. He was an obvious suspect, but as shown, he had others to help him. Not a long time ago modern investigators found that John Knoll was just as obvious of a suspect as Hauptmann. He looked just like Cemetery John and suddenly seemed to have a lot of money after the kidnapping. He also mysteriously left the U.S. on the day Hauptmann was sentenced of killing the baby. And of course, Violet Sharpe and Isidor Fisch are helpers of the scheme. Violet Sharpe seemed to be very anxious, and it was apparent that she was hiding something. Isidor Fisch had lots of evidence that was passed to Bruno Hauptmann, and applying for a passport on the day the baby was found proved he was involved. These four suspects can be blamed for acting suspiciously and doing something that broke America’s heart. What they had against a 20-month-old baby is still a mystery, and most likely will always
Roesch, R., & Rogers, B. (2011). The cambridge handbook of forensic psychology. Canadian Psychology, 52(3), 242-242-243.
During the 19th century the study of fingerprints had emerged. The past few centuries we have had numerous developments in fingerprinting. A lot of people give this credit to Francis Galton, who conducted the first study of fingerprint patterns. Galton’s research showed that no two fingerprints are identical; his theory on fingerprints changed the world and the criminal justice system as a whole. Galton studied numerous fingerprints and came to the conclusion that not even identical twins will have the same fingerprints. This finding helped build the justice system and forensic science as we all once knew it. According to Galton fingerprint impressions fall into three different categories, they are loop, arch, and whorl. Another fingerprint known as latent print is a fingerprint that is formed by sweat. This type of fingerprint is not visible to the naked eye; usually a gray or black powder is used to pick up latent prints. Now that we know the three basic categories of fingerprinting, we must take a better look at how fingerprints are identified. Once we understand how they’re identified to others, we will look at some of the landmark cases that helped DNA become what it is today.