jimtrue.com : school : CJT2141 : 16-17: Questioned Documents, Internet, Polygraph
Posted by Jim True on April 16, 2003 6:00 AM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM
Disclaimer for all material noted here is at the bottom of this web page.
Questioned Documents:
Question about this sheet of paper; Authentic. Has this item been altered? Is this the correct person?s signature?
QD was the first area of Forensic Science that went under primary attack when the Daubert decision came about. Part art/ part science.
2 year apprenticeship working with a Questioned Document examiner.
Absolute best QD lab run by the government agency is the Secret Service. Also in charge of counterfeit. USPS and FBI are also good, but Secret Service is the standard.
Checking authenticity with the Intelligence agencies. CIA.
Besides looking at altered writing, is there a way that we can find print underneath the whiteout, is there a way to look at the indentations and lift prior writing from the pad. Erasures, indented writings.
Chemistry to determine if this document has been altered; scientist will take a syringe to grab a couple of plugs out of the document and take a control sample elsewhere. Run TLC to determine if they are the same type of inks.
Charred documents: asked to look at documents in a fire and raise the writing.
Different lighting techniques (part art). Good photography background. A lot like being a fingerprint examiner, just dealing with bigger items and not dealing with a known standard. Handwriting will change with age and environment.
QD is used in the criminal and civil arena: wills altered, fraud, autographs, etc. Is this authentic?
Pg. 453 ? Any object that contains handwritten or typewritten markings whose source or authenticity is in doubt may be referred to as a questioned document.
Textbook primarily related to handwriting & typewriting; now have to look at facsimile?s, impact printers, inkjet, laser printers, etc. Typewriters would often leave toolmarks; printers don?t necessarily leave toolmarks.
FBI is trying to build a large database of handwriting exemplars. Trying to build more empirical data as far as error rates, etc.
Handwriting Analysis deals with Comparison, not analysis or psychological analysis. Drug use, Ritalin will affect the handwriting.
Fingerprints you need a good ten-print card; Q.D. requires an exemplar.
Handwriting comparison samples need to come from the same time period as the document being compared. Don?t need a warrant to get a handwriting exemplar.
Collecting: Exemplar. When you?re collecting for an investigation, dictate what you want the person to write. Reason is twofold:
If I put it on a sheet of paper, you can concentrate all your energy on reproducing; if it's being dictating, you have to decipher and then write it.
Several copies. Repetition in how the person writes the item. Will give you blank check and have you complete it. Guidelines on pg. 457 to collect exemplar.
Suspect should never see the questioned document. Pen and paper similar to the Q.D. (not lined paper if they used unlined for the Q.D., Dictate the text, at least 3 times. Signatures and checks, 20-25 exemplars. Investigator needs to discuss with the Document Examiner what specifically needs to be collected.
Two-year apprenticeship to become a Questioned Document Examiner.
First section of F.D.L.E. went to Privatization in the State of Florida. Minimum $200 just to look at it. Money and resources will determine if a case can be worked. Only so many dollars budgeted to work a case.
FDLE contracts out Rape Cases to private DNA labs.
Still some Metro-Dade Q.D.?s employed.
"Best Evidence Rule": which is the best evidence to use to prosecute a case.
Typewriter: type the exact same text to get the closest examination for the exemplar; ribbon was a big thing because you could recollect the prior.
Photocopier, Printer and Fax: Q.D. may be called on to identify the make, model. Looking for unique marks, toner appearances. Exemplars for comparison.
Alterations, Erasures and Obliterations:
Want to know what was there, or what might have been altered.
UV and IR light to luminesce what was underneath. IR photography for developing charred documents. Indentations, use electrostatic dusters. Chemical comparisons of the ink with TLC.
Swig and a Twig: SWG ? Scientific Working Group, TWG, Technical Working Group. Committee put together by DEA, or DOJ, scientists who work in a crime lab, work in academia, and internationally to develop standards of analysis.
SWG Drug - Scientific Working Group on Drug Analysis.
TWG DAM - Technical Working Group DNA Analysis Methods.
TWG MAT - Material Analysis Trace Evidence (Glass, Polymer, etc. subdivisions.
Set the criteria for the minimum requirements for analysis. Worldwide consistency.
FDLE - Microscopic exam and chemical presumptive (color test); Pinellas adds TLC for THC.
Structural Determination - IR and Mass Spectroscopy.
Voice Examination:
Not normally accepted in court; good investigative tool. Not that many examiners. Bell Labs did a lot.
Internet:
p.491 World Wide Web.
Polygraph:
6-8 week course.
Must be structured a specific way which is why it is used as an investigative tool.
Pre-employment; criminal investigation.
Measures 3 different things:
1. Respiration
2. Heart Beat and/or Blood Pressure
3. Galvanized Skin Response (Sweat)
Springs, for respiration, BP cuff and finger pinch.
If you are trying to deceive me, your body will give you away. True that a pathological liar can beat a polygraph.
Key is having a good examiner. GOOD Questions. If questions are not posed properly, it can be a bad test.
3 Results:
NDI - No Deception Indicated
DI - Deception Indicated
INC - Inconclusive
If he's doing a polygraph on a pregnant woman, he doesn't know what he's doing. If the subject is drunk or on medications. Best polygraph examiners have had investigative experience.
Pre-Employment: did you lie on this part of your application? Sexual preference? In law enforcement they don?t? want something coming back to bite them in the ass.
Credit rating; do you have a lot of speeding tickets?
Academy Classes ? Professional Application Screening Service;
Negative and Positive Control Responses. Yes or No questions only.
Best way to beat a polygraph: tell the truth. Minimum 2 hour process.
Good polygrapher will have his work double-checked.
Frye case - first case that determined admissibility of Polygraph (was not admitted). One situation where the polygraph will be admitted; defense and prosecution have to agree to have it admitted.
Know the results, questions have to be relevant, yes/no responses.
Measuring Breath, Heart Rate, Galvanized Skin Response.
Criminal Investigations look for the lies on the testimony.
Remember how it applies to the Frye case, and the only way it can be admitted in a court of law.
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