Forgery Q&A
by Joelle Steele
If you don’t find an answer to your question here, just scroll down to the comment section and leave your question there. I try to answer questions the day they’re received, but if I’m really busy, it may take me a couple days.
Q. I have studied handwriting for years and I want to become an expert on handwritten forgery. An attorney told me I would need to be certified as an expert before I could appear in court. What does this mean?
A. Becoming court-certified as an expert in any field means you need to meet the standards expressed by the Frye and Daubert tests. These are based on case law: Frye v. the United States and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. These cases explain what is acceptable in an expert witness, such as scientific technique, peer-reviewed methods, experience, and education. You can read up on these cases online to see how they relate to certification.
Q. When analyzing and comparing handwriting samples from the 19th century, should I rely on a particular handwriting system, such as Carstairs or Spencer to date a signature?
A. No. The reason is, for example, Carstairs (1809) predates Spencer, but Spencer relies on Carstairs’ forms, and after 1890, Palmer comes along with variations on Spencer’s forms. This happens throughout many, many years and many different handwriting systems. So during any particular span of time, any number of styles could be in use simultaneously.
Q. How do I protect my client from being accused of forgery?
A. You don’t. That’s your client’s attorney’s job. Your job is to provide an objective opinion as to whether something is forged or not, whether your client is an attorney or a party in a lawsuit.
Q. My client is being sued for selling a signature of a famous person that the buyer now believes is not authentic. To me, the signature does not look like a forgery. Is this a common problem?
A. I don’t know if it’s exactly “common,” but it can happen. It depends on the famous person. Not every famous signature is signed by the celebrity. Sometimes they hire someone to sign at least some of their autographs (e.g., photos, flyleafs on books, etc.). But what does happen is that many celebrities write their names so often and in so many different ways (standing, in a car, different pens, on a napkin, in a hurry, etc.) that there are many variations in their authentic writings. In those cases, you have to look very closely at the tiniest details of the writing and compare it to multiple exemplars of the celebrity’s known authentic signature. I do this under magnification, because that is the only way to really see possible handedness, little hooks, details of dots, slant, etc., that distinguish someone signing on behalf of the celebrity from the authentic signature.
Q. I often find it hard to distinguish from among the various ligatures. I currently have three exemplars where the same letters are sometimes connected with garlands and other times with arcades. The original is the same. How can I tell if there is a different writer?
A. Don’t get all caught up in the connectors. Whoever wrote the document in question has the same form of ligatures. To me, this indicates, at least without further study, that it’s probably the same writer. But, confirm that by looking at all the other handwriting elements to see how they compare.
Q. How do you tell whether the size of one person’s handwriting is bigger/smaller than a possible forgery when the originals are not available to measure and analyze?
A. I use the exact same technique in handwriting analysis that I use in comparing faces in photographs. I find one thing that is consistent throughout each signature being compared. Usually, an “a” or an “o” are sufficient. Look at them in a photo editing software such as Photoshop and adjust the sizes of the handwritng so that both the known signatures and the possible forgery are exactly the same size. This usually makes comparison a lot easier as it will point out any inconsistencies (e.g., spacing between letters, height of letters, etc.) in the possible forged signature.
Q. Why do I have to scan signatures? Why can’t I photograph them?
A. In my experience, photographing signatures is simply not the best method unless you have very high end equipment to do so. The slightest movement of a hand-held camera can cause distortion that may not be readily apparent, but it is there. Scanning (on a flat bed scanner) is the most reliable and accurate way to duplicate a signature for use in analyzing in a photo editing software.
