Forensic handwriting expert

Performing the work of a forensic handwriting expert / forensic handwriting analysis is a major portion of the work performed by a forensic document examiner. The videos on this page describe different aspects of forensic handwriting examination. They are from a presentation Mike Wakshull delivered to attorneys at the San Diego, California Law Library.  The presentation titled An introduction to forensic handwriting examination was offered for one hour of general MCLE credit.

Each video describes a specific aspect of the work performed by a forensic handwriting expert. The videos are sequentially presented from the presentation. The viewer can select the topics of interest or watch the videos sequentially to see the entire presentation.

The purpose of presenting the videos is to assist legal professionals when selecting a forensic document examiner to determine the authenticity of handwriting. The examples presented are from cases on which Mike worked. Several different types of cases were selected to offer a variety of scenarios you may encounter in a case.

Introduction to Forensic Handwriting Examination Part 1

This video introduces the viewer to the basic concepts used by a forensic handwriting expert in a case that involves potential forgery or simulated handwriting an/or signatures on a questioned document. The reason forensic document examiners do not opine to forgery is presented. This presentation was delivered at the San Diego, CA Law Library in August, 2016 to attorneys for their MCLE credit.

Introduction to Forensic Handwriting Examination Part 2

This video introduces the viewer to the attributes of handwriting that are used by forensic document examiners. Research shows the difference between a trained forensic handwriting expert and lay person identifying handwriting is a trained forensic document examiner looks at the details. A Lay person looks at the overall structure.
The video is part of a presentation to attorneys at the San Diego Law Library in August, 2016 for MCLE credit.

Introduction to Forensic Handwriting Examination Part 3

This video is the third in a series of Introduction to forensic handwriting examination. The video presents why a forensic handwriting expert compares similar writing styles to the same writing styles. For example, cursive handwriting is compared with cursive, printed handwriting to printing, signatures are compared to signatures. This is important when forensic document examiners determine whether a writing is a simulation. In part 1 the reason why forensic document examiners do not opine to forgery was explained.
This is part of a presentation delivered to attorneys at the San Diego Law Library for MCLE credit.

Disguised Writing

Disguised writing is a method used by some people so they can disavow having written a document. This video shows three cases of a disguised signature. A forensic handwriting expert is skilled at discovering disguised writing. Another term for disguised writing is auto forgery. Tools such as Adobe Photoshop are used in forensic handwriting examination to discover disguised handwriting.

This video is part of a presentation delivered to attorneys at the San Diego Law Library in August, 2016 for MCLE credit