04.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:30 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
I attended the National Association of Document Examiners Annual Conference in Austin, TX last week. It was very informative and an overall enjoyable conference. In my opinion, document examiners and/or handwriting experts are a great group of people. One lecturer commended our group’s diverse talents. Perhaps she compliments each group she lectures to, but she seemed very sincere in her favorable comments and I prefer to view her as someone of integrity. Whether I am partial or not, I do have a lot of respect for document examiners and overall, they are an extremely intelligent and talented group, and are a pleasure to rub elbows with.
During the conference, one presenter lectured on ethics and integrity. I looked up a quote he made and found that it appears to have originated from Alan Simpson, former U.S. Senator.
“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”
In my opinion, that pretty much sums up integrity. There are those that have it, and those that don’t.
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02.27.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:07 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
An exemplar is a handwriting sample. An adequate number of relevant exemplars is necessary to conduct a document examination. Just as no two people write alike and each case is different, the number of exemplars needed to perform an examination may vary. Exemplars provided should be comparable to the disputed text, adequate in amount, and written around the same time period as the questioned document. The subject matter of a disputed document or handwriting should be similar to the subject matter of the known (collected specimen standard) exemplars. The conditions under which the questioned and known writings and the type of writing instrument and paper (or form) should be similar.
Most signatures include the full written name of an individual, which provides many facets of letters, strokes, connectors and placements to exam. However, a recent case study involved only two initials as the normal course of business signature on the disputed document. This provided a challenge for not only the document examiner, but the client as well.
Two initials drastically limits the examination and adequate, comparable exemplars is tantamount to this type of document examination. Finding an adequate number of exemplars can be challenging for the client. It is the opinion of this examiner that using only two initials as one’s normal course of business signature, makes it easier for a forger to forge your signature.
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11.16.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:59 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Yesterday, I went to the bank to make a withdrawal from my business account. The young teller took my request, gave me a withdrawal form to sign and asked for my DL. She proceeded to line up the documents she had received and kept clicking back and forth on her computer monitor. Next, she called over a senior teller and said “we have this, this and this, and then here is the signature card,” while the senior teller dutifully looked over her shoulder at the monitor.
It took a few moments to register what was happening, and then I asked if they were questioning my signature? I had to laugh and told them that I was a Forensic Document Examiner and Handwriting Expert and handed them my business card. Then, I remembered that I had changed the way I wrote my ‘D’ a couple of years ago and that is why my signature card was different.
I laughed again, but thanked them for making sure my signature was correct and added that if they ever had any questions about someone’s signature to give me a call. The teller kept my business card…
How ironic! A Document Examiner’s own signature was in question. LOL
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10.22.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:34 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
A mother’s Will was forged. A family member attempted to disguise his handwriting to simulate that of his mother’s tremulous handwriting. In the letter, the mother supposedly bequeathed everything to that family member, thus leaving nothing for the remaining children of the deceased.
This case took several hours to examine and compare each and every letter and word in the questioned document. However, the forger’s innate characteristics could not be completely eliminated in the disguised writing, though he did try. Upon a thorough document examination, the forger was identified.
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05.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:44 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Identity theft is on the rise…
You work with employees whom you consider friends, however, that is not always the case. Identity theft took a twisted turn in a case where someone took countless insert cards that are inserted between the pages of magazines, maliciously filled them out with a fellow employee’s name and address, and submitted the postage-paid insert cards for magazine subscriptions.
The victim’s mailbox was soon bombarded with hundreds of magazines and the resulting subscription invoices. I was hired to identify the perpetrator. The client had a good idea who did the nasty deed and was able to provide adequate handwriting samples of the suspect. As a result, I was able to identify the guilty party and help put a stop to the injustice…
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04.29.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:31 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Someone wrote a letter using disguised writing in an attempt to defraud other family members out of an inheritance. This case was very interesting to work on, as the author of the letter used tremor in the handwriting, which is often found in the feeble and infirm. Once a thorough examination had been performed, the lengthy exemplars provided gave clear evidence as to who the perpetrator was.
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03.08.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:05 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Another article about being a handwriting expert and forensic document examiner was published in the “Michigan Daily” on 1/31/07. This article was written by Anne Vandermey, Daily News Editor. In this article, I feel that Anne used “poetic license.” I learned alot about doing interviews through this experience, and have decided that before an article goes to print, we should get a chance to review and edit what we said. I may request this in the future…
If you would like to read the article, here is the link:
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/01/31/TheStatement/The-Character.In.Characters-2687836.shtml
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02.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:47 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
Officer XYZ was fired from his job. Reason: Accused of forging another officer’s name to a police form. GraphoWrite document examiner hired. Outcome: Officer XYZ did NOT forge the signature, and guilty party was identified.
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11.19.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:25 pm by DocumentExaminingExpert
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Posted in Uncategorized at 11:51 am by DocumentExaminingExpert
A Day With a Knight
DAWN ROBERTS, ‘79
UCF Pegasus Alumni Magazine
Sept/Oct 2006
By: Angie Lewis, ‘03
You’re familiar with shows like CSI, Crossing Jordan and Law & Order, where the characters rely on forensic evidence, like blood and hair, to catch the bad guys. But have you ever heard of a forensic document examiner? I knew there were people who looked at threatening letters, suicide notes, etc., but I never understood the extent to which these professionals can use their knowledge until I met Dawn Roberts. Dawn, a forensic document examiner and certified handwriting expert, owns GraphoWrite and is affiliated with Handwriting Services International, which provides document examiner services to clients all over the world.Because of the nature of her work, Dawn could not share open cases with me. Instead, we reviewed my handwriting analysis (I faxed her a sample before we met) and discussed some of her past forensic cases.
Dawn and I sat down in her home office on a Tuesday morning to go over my results. First was my business handwriting analysis, presented as a report with charts, which highlighted motivating forces, personal dynamics, ego strength, defenses and controls, intellectual style, communication style, interpersonal style, work style, sales style and management style.
Then it was on to my personal analysis, which Dawn recited as she looked at my sample. Her first comment was that I have lacked a father figure in my life. My jaw dropped. How could she tell that from my handwriting? Dawn also told me that I was re-establishing a connection with my father, which was, again, true. He came back into my life a few months ago. (See my sample, at right.)
Besides the lack of a father figure, Dawn can tell countless other things about a person in his/her handwriting, including a person’s sexual orientation, health issues (including cancer), whether someone likes their family or not, if a man has had a vasectomy or a woman has had a hysterectomy, if someone likes to sing in the shower or sing out loud so other can hear, if someone is honest or dishonest, if someone is an embezzler, if someone is a pervert or pedophile, if someone is obsessive-compulsive, if someone reads a lot, if someone likes to argue for the sake of arguing, if someone has signs of violence or emotional instability and even whether it’s a boy, a girl or twins.
And, as Dawn told me, even if you try to change your handwriting, those traits will still be there on the page.
Handwriting analysis is not the only thing Dawn’s work consists of. In fact, the majority of it focuses on forensic document examination. Lawyers, insurance companies, private investigators and private citizens are just some of people who utilize Dawn’s expertise.
The simplest example, which she sees a lot, is forgery. To find out whether a document has been forged, Dawn needs two things: the questionable document and a document with known writing to compare it to. She can then use a variety of her tools, including a ruler, protractor, magnifying glass, jeweler’s loupe, light table and/or microscope, to prove a document’s authenticity. She showed me samples from two of her closed cases, both of which involved wills, and both of which were cases of forgery. One of the cases was particularly difficult for Dawn. She said it took her several days working on it, putting it down, coming back to it, sleeping on it, then looking at it again the next morning. “Some cases require that, some don’t,” she said.
I could have talked with Dawn for days. When I headed back to the office later that afternoon, thoughts of everything we discussed were still processing in my brain. This profession is truly the most fascinating thing I have ever been privileged to learn about.
HANDWRITING CAN REVEAL:
Emotions
Mental Processes
Imagination
Forces to achieve (goals, willpower, determination)
Fears
Defenses
Integrity
Social traits
Aptitudes (business, cultural, mechanical, scientific)
HANDWRITING CANNOT REVEAL:
Age
Sex
Race
Handedness (right or left)
Religious preference
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