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Handwriting Identification Handwriting Identification: Facts and Fundamentals by ROY A. HUBER, B.Sc., Assistant Commissioner, RCMP (Ret.) in collaboration with A. M. HEADRICK, B.Sc., Assistant Commissioner, RCMP (Ret.) Examiners of questioned documents “Forensic document examination is the study of physical evidence and physical evidence cannot lie. Only its interpretation can err. Only the failure to find it, or to hear its true testimony can deprive it of its value.” Roy A. Huber CRC Press Boca Raton New York ©1999 CRC Press LLC Contact Editor: Becky McEldowney Project Editor: Ibrey Woodall Marketing Managers: Barbara Glunn, Jane Lewis, Arline Massey, Jane Stark Cover design: Dawn Boyd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huber, Roy A. Handwriting identification : facts and fundamentals / Roy A. Huber, in collaboration with A.M. Headrick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8493-1285-X (alk. paper) 1. Writing--Identification. I. Headrick, A. M. II. Title. HV8074.H77 1999 363.25!.65--dc21 98-50666 CIP This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC for such copying. Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 Corporate Blvd., N.W., Boca Raton, Florida 33431. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are only used for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe. © 1999 by CRC Press LLC No claim to original U.S. Government works International Standard Book Number 0-8493-1285-X Library of Congress Card Number 98-50666 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Printed on acid-free paper ©1999 CRC Press LLC Dedication To my family, Phyllis, Jim, Heather, and Kevin, who knew it only as my excuse for avoiding other things ©1999 CRC Press LLC Foreword Much that this book contains is not new. It has been available for reading and digestion for as long as 30 years. Even the title Facts and Fundamentals was employed by the author to caption a potpourri of comments expressed in August 1982. The fact that many of these comments have received little attention over this period of time is a measure of the past reluctance of document examiners to revise practises and to ameliorate patterns of thinking. I would presume that every author has a reason for writing a book and these reasons may vary substantially from one author to another. In my estimation the reason for writing a technical or quasi-technical textbook of this kind is not likely to be monetary. It is more liable to be a continuance of its author’s long-standing aspiration and oft-stated resolve to educate, consolidate, stimulate, and/or substantiate the precepts on which the proper performance of handwriting examination and study should be conducted and understood. You and I are free to make our individual assessments as to whether such a goal has been achieved and/or to what extent. Without further comment, may I be so presumptuous as to describe this contribution as the Foreword to the First Edition of a progeny that will be followed by many succeeding and constantly improving revisions. A. M. (Tom) Headrick, Assistant Commissioner, RCMP (Ret.) ©1999 CRC Press LLC Preface Unlike other disciplines, questioned document examination is not an area of forensic science which has witnessed the proliferation of new books articulating new philosophies and describing new techniques. Yet, document examination is not without such needs. Social change and progress in business practises have altered the role, the nature of the document, and the approach to the study of it. Furthermore, the field has been repeatedly challenged to initiate some form of review or program to develop a more objective meth- odology. This program would improve the field’s accuracy and move it under the umbrella of science. The qualification of handwriting identification as a science is a prominent current topic of discussion. This book attempts to shed some light on it. I still vividly recall writing nearly 35 years ago that “science’s fundamental distinction from common sense rests in a single word — system.” Accordingly, this dissertation is an attempt to develop and present the knowledge respecting handwriting identification in a systematic fashion, providing a basis from which the discipline may evolve and be desirably accepted as a science. The book has two primary objectives. First, it is an endeavour to present, in a general manner, a new approach to the study of document examination and to handwriting identification in particular. It records a review and consolidation of much of the worthwhile material that has been written on handwriting identification in the English language in the last 100 years. In this consolidation, an attempt has been made to extract valid prin- ciples, to dispute, if warranted, previously alleged principles, and to present some new thoughts that put the discipline into a proper perspective for current times. In this respect, it may be the first, if not the foremost, endeavour of its kind. Although it is not offered as a paradigm, it is hoped that the organization of the book will facilitate the addition of new material by readers or writers as it becomes available. It will require such contributions if it is to evolve into a recognized textbook that this discipline so desperately needs. Second, it is an endeavour to make the information understandable and usable by the legal profession. Concern for this aspect of the matter has prompted the use of a question and answer format. This format, hopefully, will assist in the phrasing of questions to, and the understanding of, responses to be expected from expert witnesses, and/or those who profess to be qualified writing examiners. If, in the process, it serves to distinguish the competent from the incompetent, the discipline will be better for it. Perhaps a third reason underlying this publication lies in the truism that writing renders ideas tangible and purifies concepts. Call it a catharsis, if you will. Regrettably, age will not permit this author to benefit fully from it, but I often wish that I had pursued this undertaking as a part of my initial training. I am indebted to Nerine Waldron of the RCMP Scientific Information Centre, who greatly assisted in securing material that I did not have, and to Dr. Brian Baird of the RCMP Central Forensic Laboratory through whose good offices this was arranged. I am ©1999 CRC Press LLC also indebted to a long-time friend, William R. Picton, of Edmonton, Alberta, who advised respecting the material on alcohol and intoxication. I am grateful, too, to Jennifer Nuss, a summer student in our office of years ago and now a practising document examiner in western Canada, who produced much of the material included in the Glossary. I am also indebted to Dr. Don Ostaff of Fredericton, New Brunswick, for editorial suggestions. If asked to describe this work as briefly as possible, one might resort to the rhetoric the reader will find on one of its pages: “It is a didactic dissertation of a quasi-technical nature.” Most readers will have other words for it, I am sure. It may not be an overly scholarly presentation. There are topics that I have touched on because I think they are important to the discipline that I don’t fully understand myself. But I wanted to make a beginning. I’d rather attempt to do something — and fail, than attempt to do nothing — and succeed. Would that I had the talent of others to express myself more eloquently, perhaps then, what I have written would be less of a bore and more of an inspiration. Roy A. Huber Ottawa, Canada 1999 The Thinker, Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917) The Metropolitan Museum of Art Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910. (11.173.9) ©1999 CRC Press LLC The Authors Roy A. Huber, was trained in the examination of questioned documents in the Crime Detection Laboratories of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from 1949 to 1951. He has testified as an expert witness in six provinces of Canada, and in the United States. He has authored, or coauthored with Mr. Headrick, 16 published articles and 11 unpublished articles on the subject of questioned document examination, expert evidence, and on science as applied to document examination. He graduated from Carleton University in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in chemistry, statistics, and psychology, 10 years after he entered the field of questioned documents. He served for 35 years (1940 to 1975) as a uniformed member of the RCMP, the last 26 years of which were spent in the Crime Detection Laboratories. He retired from the RCMP in 1975, with the rank of assistant commissioner, as director of the laboratories and identification services. Mr. Huber served as special advisor on security in printing to the Canadian Bank Note Company, printers of currency, stocks, bonds, passports, licences, and negotiable instru- ments, from 1975 to 1986.
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