Questioned Document Examination is a traditional forensic examination, the main purpose of which is the established methods of making a document, the facts and ways of changing its content. Show
1. TYPES OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINATIONThe objects of examination include the following documents:
The QDE objects are also materials for the production of documents, including paper, ink, paste for ballpoint pens, ink, etc., copy paper, ribbons for typewriters. To determine the method of changing the text of the document, an examination of the following objects is carried out:
In addition, objects of study also include items that are not documents in the literal sense of the word:
The objects to be checked are the following:
Comparative objects are the following:
2. TYPES OF EXAMINATIONS CARRIED OUT BY THE KYIV SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC EXPERTISEThe QDE of the Criminalistics Laboratory of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise conducts the following examinations: 1. Establishing the facts of making changes to the content of the document by adding, etching, washing, etc., as well as restoring its original content. Making changes to the document and restoring its content
Establishment of a method for making a document Identification of seals and stamps Identification of character-printing
(character-synthesizing) devices
Examination of ripped texts This establishes or compiled earlier parts of the document found at the scene of the incident as one whole; parts of the document that were seized from a citizen belonged to a specific document; or a receipt was made, parts of which were removed from the citizen on a sheet of paper torn from a notebook. In order to resolve the issue of whether the fragments of the six sheets submitted for examination were made up a single whole, the details contained on them were studied, as well as the study of these fragments by comparative analysis and comparing them along the separation lines using. Establishing the absolute age of documents This type of research is one of the main tasks of the technical examination of documents, which allows you to determine the time of execution of the document. To determine the age of execution, experts examine each attribute of the document (text,
prints, stamps, handwritten execution details) and compare the results with each other. 3. QUESTIONS TO WHICH THE EXAMINATION DEALS WITHIn general, the QDE depending on the object of research and tasks, answers a number of the following questions.
On the tasks of the examination of impressions of printed forms, that is, impressions of seals and stamps, questions can be formed as follows:
On the tasks of examination of texts made on character-printing (character-synthesizing) devices, the following questions can be formed:
On the tasks of examination of printing products, the following questions can be formed:
On the tasks of the examination of the glued and fastened together details, questions can be formed:
On the tasks of examination of torn documents, the following questions can be formed:
4. REQUIREMENTS FOR MATERIALS TO BE PROVIDED FOR RESEARCH
To solve most of the above questions that are posed before the QDE, it is necessary to provide the originals of the documents, and not its technical images (copies). When preparing the materials, certain requirements for handling material evidence must be met, the tasks for the expert must be clearly formulated, the necessary comparative materials must be collected, the information necessary for the examination must be collected as well. According to the rules for handling documents – material evidence, developed by forensic science, the investigator (court) is obliged:
In the document on the appointment of the examination, it is necessary to specify the objects to be investigated:
It is not allowed to submit for examination a technical image of the document (copy) instead of its original:
A question to an expert should not go beyond his/her competence; require a legal assessment of the research results. When formulating a task, an expert is not allowed to use terms that have a double interpretation, technical and legal, namely: “correction”, “fake” as synonyms of the terms: “change”, “non-compliance with the sample”. The question of similarity, homogeneity, identity, common generic (group) affiliation, simultaneity are questions with an indefinite assignment to an expert. For example, the question of the simultaneous execution of several documents or fragments of one document is a typical case of uncertainty of the task for an expert. The term “simultaneity” is appropriate only for docum ents made in one-step: in one tab using carbon paper or self-copy paper. In other cases, the term “simultaneity” requires clarification: the time interval is of interest to the investigation (court), or when the text is executed using a printer, the sheets are printed one after another, therefore, “simultaneity” in this case is the execution of all sheets of the document in one printing cycle (in one-step). If technical means become the objects of examination: writing instruments, character-printing (character-synthesizing) devices, means of duplicating equipment, printing forms, then, depending on the expert task and the specific situation, either technical means can be presented for examination directly or comparative materials, that is, samples of the following types: experimental samples or (and) free samples. Some methods of expert research are associated with partial damage to the object (changing the properties of the coloring matter in the strokes of a signature, imprint, and text) or even its complete destruction (cutting out strokes). Such methods are used with the permission of the body or person who ordered the examination. The specified permission must be contained in the document on the appointment of the examination or in the corresponding letter. Permission for partial destruction of a document, taking samples, clippings from strokes is mandatory for solving the following tasks:
How will you determine if a questioned document is genuine or fake?To determine whether a document is genuine, an examiner may attempt to confirm who authored or created the document, determine the timeframe in which it was created, identify the materials used in its preparation, or uncover modifications to the original text - such as changes, additions, or deletions to the original ...
Why is document examination conducted?The examination's primary purpose is to provide evidence about suspicious or questioned documents using a variety of scientific principles and methods. Document examination might include alterations, obliterations, paper analysis, forgery, origin, determining authenticity, or any other questions.
What is considered a common examination for questioned documents?The most familiar area of questioned-document examination is handwriting analysis. Here the examiner is called upon to determine if a particular person was the author of a document.
What does a forensic document examination do?By comparing documents found at a crime scene to a suspect's known writing samples, the forensic document examiner can help confirm who wrote the note and include or exclude suspects from the investigation.
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