Even the most meticulous and gifted forgers leave behind evidence of their work. Forensic handwriting analysts visually inspect documents with the naked eye as well as with the use of a microscope. Microscopes many times disclose sure signs of forgery.
My handwriting analysis of DC Madam's suicide notes. Deborah Jean Palfrey's letters were found and released to the public by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department.
When crime scene investigator's (CSI's) come across a document that is part of a crime, a forensic handwriting analyst must determine if the writing is consistent with the person who is suspected of writing it or if the writing is a forgery. To make this determination, the handwriting examiner will require several standard handwriting samples, or standards as it is called, in order to gain some insight on the person's writing style and ascertain whether or not that person wrote the questionable note. To make matters worse, standard writing samples may have been created with a...