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COLLECTION OF HANDWRITING EXEMPLARS

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p525-526

2026-08-24

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COLLECTION OF HANDWRITING EXEMPLARS

Although questioned document examiners have little or no control over the quality and quantity of the questioned writing sample, they do have or should have control over the exemplars. Known writing samples are critical to a successful handwriting comparison. The quantity of exemplar material is also important and thus the full range of variation in the subject’s writing should be obtained. Just as important, however, is the quality and type of exemplars. There must be some similarities between the known and unknown writings in order to make meaningful comparisons. There are two types of exemplars: requested and nonrequested writings.

Requested writings are writing samples taken from someone for the purpose of comparison with a questioned document. These writings are generally taken by multiple dictations of a passage that has words and phrases similar to the questioned document. This type of data collection minimizes the chance that the subject is deliberately trying to alter their handwriting style. The writing often consists of a few generic sentences or passages followed by all or part of the exact questioned document. Requested writings are often preferred because the questioned document examiner has a good deal of control about the content, paper, writing implement, etc. that is used in the writing and can request enough writing sample so as to minimize the chances that the writer will be able to disguise the writing and to account for natural variation in one’s handwriting. The major disadvantage of requested writings is temporal; if a great deal of time has elapsed between the time the questioned document was written and the collection of the requested writing, there is a chance that the questioned document examiner may not be able to make a valid comparison because the handwriting could have changed dramatically during the period between the two samples.