Criminal investigators have been using handwriting analysis since the beginning of FBI times. In 1932, when the FBI first opened its doors, document and handwriting analysis went hand in hand. Since then, analyzing handwriting has been used in a variety of criminal investigations for crimes in which documents were used. This type of analysis works to pinpoint a perpetrator when little other evidence of "who did it" exists. However, when used in conjunction with other evidence handwriting analysis can create a much stronger case against the accused.
Handwriting analysis is a very complex area of study in the criminal law area. The analysis is used to determine if a person has committed a crime in which documents were used, such as ransom notes, letters of intent to harm another, suicide notes, or even in cases of forgery on documents such as letters or a check signature. Analyzing the handwriting on a document for the purposes of a criminal investigation requires a sample of the person's handwriting for comparison. For example, the investigators will require the accused to submit a handwritten document with various styles of writing, which may include cursive or print with like or near similar wording used on the documentation in question.
Once having the original document and the sample document, created for comparison, the handwriting analysis begins. You might suspect that the analysis will begin by looking for close similarities in the handwriting style. However, this is not true; instead, they will begin looking for significant differences in the styles. To determine rather the accused could have possibly have written the document, they look for differences within the two handwritten documents.
If after the initial handwriting analysis, the investigators cannot conclude that the accused did not write the document, they will analyze the document even further and more thoroughly. So, what are they looking for? How will they determine if the accused did indeed write the document in question? There are several key items they are looking for in the handwriting.
Many times the investigators will use a microscope or magnifying glass to analyze the documents. This allows them a closer look at the traits within the handwriting on both documents. In handwriting analysis, they are looking for specific handwriting traits such as letterform, line form, and formatting.
Letterform looks at the letter size, slants, and curves, as well as the line connections, slopes, and how a specific letter is written in regards to the beginning, end, or middle of a word. For example, a person may write the letter "e" differently in the middle of a word, than they might at the end of a word.
With line form, they are looking at the smoothness and darkness of the handwritten lines. This will tell the analyst the type of pressure applied when the item is written, as well as how fast or slow the document creator writes.
In formatting, they are looking at how both document writers space not only their letters, but their words as well. They are also looking for how the writers place their words on the lines, as well as the type of margins left by the author of each document.
Handwriting analysis is a very tedious process that must be performed accurately and concisely in order to properly determine if the author is the same or different from the accused.
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