handwriting analysis

History of Handwriting Analysis:

Aristotle first noticed the correlation between personality and handwriting over 2000 years ago. However, the field of graphology wasn't closely examined until the 1600s. In 1622, an Italian professor of philosophy at a university published  a book on the analysis of handwriting and its character. Then the subject was left for over two centuries, being reexamined once again in 1830 by Abba Michon. He became a headmaster of a school in the late 1800s and wrote a few books on graphology. Alfred Binet called the subject "the science of the future" despite the graphologist's rejection of his research. After World War II, the interest in graphology extended to the rest of the world such as Germany. Max Pulver, a Swiss scientist, was the first to try to 'interpret' graphology in the means of psychological analysis, called psychoanalysis for short. This was soon followed by Ania Teillard who applied his knowledge of typological theories to this study.

Twelve Characteristics of Handwriting

1. Line quality - free flowing, shaky, or wavering = speed
2. Spacing of words and letters- Is the spacing consistent?
3. Ratio of the relative height, width, and size- Is the ratio consistent?
4. Pen lifts and separations- Does the person stop to form new letters and begin words?
5. Connecting strokes- Are capitals connected to lowercase letters and are there connecting strokes between letters and words?
6. Beginning and ending strokes- straight or curled, long or short, upstroke or downstroke
7. Unusual letter formation- any unsusual letterings?
8. Shading or pen pressure- pressure on upstroke or downstroke?
9. Slant- left or right, up and down, consistency?
10. Baseline habits- the writing above or below a line?
11. Flourishes and embellishments- If there are any, what are they?
12. Diacritic placement- the crossing of the t's and the dots on the letters

Indicators of Forgery

1. Blunt starts and stops- the writing doesn't flourish at the end and has blunt ink endings
2. Pen lifts and hesitation- gap and overlapping of lines, occasional pen stops in midwriting
3. Tremor- the pen is moved so slowly when forging that it's not a smooth line
4. Speed and pressure- the pen is moved so slowly that the thickness of the line stays consistent because of the constant pressure placed on it
5. Patching- fixed errors in the writing, obvious difference in signature

Types of Forgery

• Normal Hand Forgery
• When the writer doesn't have a model to go off by, and simply writes the indvidual's name 
• Free Hand Forgery
• The writer simulates the signature of the individual by looking off of their true signature. These have a slow, 'drawn' look. matter how well the forgery is written, the ratios of letters and its proportions will not be the same. Even if the forgery is detected, the forger is almost never traced back to.
• Tracing
• transmitted light
• when the genuine signature is placed underneath the paper where it's being forged on, and then held up to a light source (such as a window) and traced
• carbon intermediate
• is used when the object is a thicker object than paper that cannot be traced in the light. The carbon paper is placed on the place where the signature is being forced, and over the carbon paper the original signature is placed. The original signature is then to be traced by a writing utensil and leave a carbon imprint on the object. The carbon can be then traced over once again to create a forged signature.
• pressure indented image
• The original copy of the signature is traced by pen over the paper to leave an imprint, and then traced once again working almost the same way as carbon tracing. This presents a problem because if the forger tries to make it look natural a few characteristics may be missed, but tracing every single part will make it slow and blunt.
• transferred forgery
• If the original signature is written by a ball point pen using ethylene glycol medium (carries dyes and such) then that signature can be lifted by wax paper. The wax paper can then be placed on the paper to be forged on, and then rubbed the ink melts on to the actual paper.

Konrad Kujau's Hitler Diaries...In April 1983 an announcement was made in Germany that 62 handwritten secret diaries of Adolf Hitler had been discovered which was thought to turn out to be one of the most priceless writings ever to be discovered. These were supposedly discovered a few years earlier when an East German came in posession of them after they were recovered from a fallen Nazi plane. The pilot, Lt. General Hans Baur claimed that the plane carried Hitler's archives and it is believable that these are genuine artifact. Some doubt were expressed by the magazine, Stern, in case that it was not authentic and the potential of selling false information to the public.They sent it through graphology experts and it was proven to be a true match. Although the company was ecstatic by this news, some researchers were puzzled by the more 'kind-hearted' nature of Hitler that was presented in this diary, contradicting his public image. After rigorous testing, it was proven that these diaries were indeed forgeries, and the original copy they had based the original testing off of was also forged by the same individuals.  The forger was Konrad Kujau, a Hitler enthusiast who was later remembered and recorded in history as the most notorious, elaborate forger of all.

Handwriting Lab

In this lab, we forged each other's handwritings by free hand and tracing.  Starr observed my handwriting and said that there are no connection of letters, and the y's and the g's are circular and embellished.

I think she did a great job, the traced one look a lot closer to the original but the letters are darkened and blunt making it seem unnatural.

Hair/Fiber Analysis

HISTORY
Hair:

The first theory of trichology (study of hair) was published in 1857 and introduced the possibility of classifying a person from their hair. However, the microscopic hair examination only became possible in the twentieth century.

In 1857, the beginning of the recognition of trichology was incited by a trichology report published in France  but the field itseld didn't grow until the twentieth century. In 1931, Professor John Glaister published "Hairs of Mammalia from the Medico-legal Aspect" established a reference foundation in this area of study, eventually followed by "Microscopy of Hairs: A Practical Guide and Manual" by John Hick, which described the possible use of hair examination in the work of forensics. The analysis of hair can narrow down the person's race, gender, hair color, etc.

Fiber

Fibers are considered "trace evidence" and although it doesn't have as much effect in narrowing down the culprit as hair will, it can be helpful if the  fabric has unique patterns or unique fiber. Traces of fiber is frequently left in the crime scenes, either from the clothes that the culprit had worn, or more likely, the traces of the victim being at certain places before death. 

 PICTURE AND LABELED PART OF COMPLETE HAIR

Layers:

The layers of hair can be grouped in three distinct layers; cuticle, cortex, and medulla.

Cuticle

• is the outer layer of the hair shaft
• looks like scales of a fish, cells overlap one another
• provides protection, flexibility, strength, and sheen

(picture of healthy cuticle)

Cortex

• lies below the cuticle
• the hair color is determined here by the melanocytes which consume melanin
• made of keranin protein
• most of the volume of hair

Medulla

• core of the hair
• 10% of volume
• may be absent in thin hair

Parts of Hair

Shaft

• Visible part of hair above scalp

Root and Bulb

• living portion of hair delved into the scalp
• Bulb controls the growth of hair

Papilla

• Empty area at base of bulb
• Nourishment is given to the hair from here

MAJOR TYPES OF FIBERS

• Cotton
• soft and absorbent
• short, fine and creamy white color(unless colored otherwise)

Hair/Fiber Lab work : (My drawing of cotton fiber under microscope)

Color: white and transparent

Features: single threads are spread everwhere, all are very thin and loosely packed

• Nylon
• very durable and can be used as seatbelts, tires, etc.
• high resistance
• stretches

Lab observation of Nylon

Color: black
Condition: frayed
Observation: webbed into a consistent pattern that seems to be hard to break
• Linen
• High absorbency
• good conductor of heat
• high luster
• Polyester
• low absorbency
• resist wrinkling
• durable
• Silk
• sensitive to dyes
• soft texture
• luminous

Lab work: Silk observation

Color: Gray

Observation: weaved simply, but frays at the end

• Wool
• Fire resistant
• Water absorbent
• Durable
• Sensitive to dye

Lab work: Wool Observation

Color: black

Tip: Separates

Features: No observable pattern, shaggy and separates into many directions; closely packed





Hair/Fiber Collection Technique

Hair:
1. Recover all hair samples from the scene with a pair of tweezers and store them in labelled envelopes.
2. Store the envelope into an even bigger bag to not lose these important evidences.
3.  If the hair is attached to things such as dried blood or glass, do not remove it but collect the entire thing.

Fiber:
1. Pick up the fiber and seal them in an envelope so that it won't go missing.
2. If the fiber is too small, tape the fiber sample so that they won't escape from cracks in the envelope.

Typical Hair/Fiber Analysis
A prediction can easily be made of the characteristics of the person by their hair by simply holding it under a microscope. Each race has their distinguishing feature of hair, and although they rarely match perfectly, if the features are the same then it is probably a safe prediction.

For example, in our lab we examined not only fibers but also strands of hair from different people.

Colored Hair

Color: brown or yellowish

Condition of tip: Cut, sharply diagonal

Observation: smooth, but the color is lighter in the middle.

The middle part of hair forms a webby pattern.

Asian Hair

Color: black

Condition of tip: flat and cut

Observation: smooth, lighter in the middle but almost solid color

African American Boy Hair

Color: black

Condition of Tip: rounded, brown

Features: The stem is thin, but the tip rounds and becomes thicker

Synthetic Hair

Color: brown

Condition of tip: rounded a little bit

Features: lighter in the middle but not by much, smooth and straight

We also looked at hairs that belonged to non-human beings.

Dog Hair

Color: gray and black

Condition of Tip: Cut

Observations: rough edges, light at someparts, webby at the

lighter spots and overall thicker than human hair

Cat Hair

Color: black

Condition of Tip: pointy

Observation: wihite in the middle and eventually flattens out, webby

If the researcher wishes to gain more foolproof data from these samples, a DNA test can also be conducted. The individual's hair can be used as evidence for the usage of illegal drugs. Although trace evidences aren't as reliable as blood analysis or fingerprints, it can be combined with other information to pose as evidence. The individual's health condition can also be identified by the presense of mercury in the hair.

Reliability of Hair/Fiber Crime Scene Data
The reliability of hair varies, and the miscalculation is likely to occur from colored hair, perms, etc. There are methods to de-contaminate the hair sample, but it only makes the image clearer, not having much effect on finding the true color of the hair, eventually leading to their race. The chemicals overlapping the hair shaft makes it challenging to use the hair as a reliable evidence. Consistency is not present in these tests. The numbers for the "age range" of the person also vary by the lab itself, because no national reference table is made to determine the person's age depending on the amount of mineral in one's hair.

Notable Case
In 1936, the wife of a NBC executive was found strangled with her pajama top in the bathroom of her home. The scene indicated that she had known her killer, and from lack of evidence a professional was brought in to examine the scene and collect evidence that may have been missed. There was only one evidence that was found, and it was a strand of white hair later tested as being horse hair. That day two furniture movers had delivered a horse haired couch and it was predicted that one of these two had paid her an early visit. The store was quickly identified for the couch's distinguishing features and the two men were interrogated til one of them had confessed to the murder. This was one of the first cases where hair analysis was used to convict a criminal.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6102496_forensic-science_-hair-fiber-analysis.html

http://www.lamasbeauty.com/beauty/articles/correa/what_is_hair.htm

http://www.maquillagemaven.com/2011/05/anatomy-of-hair.html

http://www.textilefurnishings.com/polyester-fabric.html
http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/collect.html

Fingerprinting

HISTORY

Fingerprinting was first recorded in ancient Babylon around 1000-2000BC. The Babylonians used the method of fingerprinting as means of business transactions, by pressing their finger into a clay tablet. The Chinese had also used clay seals to identify their lost children, or to 'sign' documents around 3rd century B.C.

--(Clay fingerprint mold found in China)

After many centuries, a government official in Persia had discovered in the 14th century that no two fingerprints were the same and that all prints formed a unique pattern.These were then given names for its distinguishing features by an Italian professor Marcello Malpighi, who inspected the prints by the microscope that was still a relatively new invention in this time period. He noticed ridges, loops, and spirals in the prints and in respect, a layer of skin was named after him called “Malpighi layer”.

 In 1823, an anatomy professor John Purkinje published a thesis after furthering Malphighi’s studies of finding nine possible patterns of a fingerprint. However, this document was not recognized as a method of identification of people but as mere factual evidence. Forty years later Professor Paul-Jean Coulier published a finding on a preservation method of prints and also the potential for further identification of criminals by using a magnifying glass to examine their fingerprints. Dr. Henry Faulds applied printers ink to retrieve fingerprints and was the first to be able to identify them.

Mark Twaine, a notable author and also the creater of Tom Sawyer, introduced identification of the murderer by his fingerprint in the novel Life on the Mississippi and influenced the others to wonder if gathering fingerprints at the crime scene would lead to a successful arrest. Juan Vucentic first used this new idea to use and convicted Francis Rojas by the residue of her bloody fingerprint to the one that they had filed. Afterwards Sir Francis Galton published a book, Fingerprints, to provide a classification system for the fingerprints and to prove the permanence of the fingerprint by observing fingerprints while aging. He also solidified the uniqueness of each fingerprint and according to his research the odds of two people having the same fingerprint were 1 in 64 billion. India was the first to recognize this as a method to identify an individual and created a database of all the criminals' fingerprints, the most recognized being Calcutta Anthroprometric Bureau in 1897. Azizi Haque and Hem Chandra Bose developed the Henry classification system (named after their supervisor) to file the fingerprints.

In 1901, New Scotland Yard established a Fingerprint Branch following India's example, and also employed the Henry System of Fingerprint Classification. Three years later, the New York State Prison gathered the fingerprints of criminals and expanded throughout the country. International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) formed the National Bureau of Criminal Identification strictly for fingerprint identification.

Example of a fingerprint card used

Congress formed the Identification Division in FBI, and the criminal identification of IACP and Bureau of Criminal Identification were consolidated into one database. By 1987, this database grew into 200 million manually filed fingerprint cards. Automated fingerprint identification system was later developed and the 200 million cards were computerized. It was still not as effective as the programs of today because many of the datas were duplicated and there were glitches in the system.

TYPES OF FINGERPRINTS

The types of fingerprints can be distinguished in three broad groups;

Visible

• Also called patent prints
• left with a medium such as blood, ink, dirt, grease, etc.
• can be seen by human eyes

Latent

• Not seen by the naked eye
• formed from the sweat (or fluid contained in sweat) on the body  
• must be developed before they can be seen or photographed
• can be made visible by dusting, fuming or chemical reagents

Impressed

• also called plastic prints
• indentations left in soft surfaces, such as clay, wax, paint, etc.
•  can be viewed without development

DEVELOPING PRINTS ON SURFACES

There are four primary chemicals used in basic development of fingerprints. Those are

• iodine
• cyanoacrylate (super glue)
• silver nitrate
• ninhydrin

Some of the minor chemicals also used are listed below

• diazafluoren 1 (DFO-1)
• rhodamine
• ardrox
• sudan black
• thenoyl europium chelate (TEC)
• acid fushin

Porous-
 paper, unfinished wood, cardboard... can easily preserve because the latent print can soak into a surface

Non-absorbent
plastic, glass, metal.... fragile evidence and can be easily ruined or wiped away

Hard surface
asphalt, concrete- difficult to collect fingerprint from because it is not completely smooth, and the print is likely to be disfigured

Smooth surface
Smooth surface such as glass, wood, plastic, etc in which fingerprints can be easily lifted from.
Methods to Develop
Cyanoacrylate is used to 'fume' fingerprints onto the surface. To do this, the smooth surface with fingerprint needs to be contained in a jar with a couple drops of cyanoacrylate in it. After about five minutes, the print would've developed on the microscopic slide and you have your evidence! Iodine goes through the same procedures, with the fuming method.

Silver Nitrate reacts with the sweat contained in the fingerprint and it should be sprayed onto the print after being diluted by water or alcohol.

Ninhydrin also reacts with amino acid (sweat) but the prints will come up in purple, and take about 24 hours for it to develop after the prints are sprayed with a generous amount of Ninhydrin.

 

BASIC SHAPES/PATTERNS OF FINGERPRINTS

The patterns of fingerprints can be categorized into three types: arches, loops, and whorls.

Fingerprints can be distinguished by its unique patterns. Although fingerprints differ for each individual person, every human being has one of nine patterns established by Purkinje on their print. The nine patterns are condensed into three main patterns: archs, whorls, and loops.

The Arch

About five percent of the fingerprints are archs, one of either plain arch or tented arch. In an arch, the ridges of the print lies on top of one another forming a semicircle pattern on the surface. There are typically no deltas found within this pattern. There are two types of archs: plain arch and tented arch.

Plain Arch- even flow of ridges       

Tented Arch- makes a triangle shape within the ridges

Note: within the tented arch there can be radial and ulnar
radial- points to the right
ulnar- points to the left








The Loops
Loops occur in 60 to 70 percent of all fingerprints. In a loop pattern, the lines start from one side of the finger and revert back in the direction they started from. There are specifically two types, radial and ulnar.

Radial Loop and Ulnar Loop

Radial loop receives its name from the radius bone in the arm, and that is a good way to remember. Ulnar loop receives its name from the ulna. The ulnar loop always starts on the outerside of the hand, at the pinky, and the radial loop starts at the inner side of the hand towards the thumb.

Central Pocket Loop

Central pocket loop consists of multiple free curving ridges and two deltas. It almost looks asthough it is a complete circle on your fingerprint.

Twinned Loop (Double loop)

In a twinned loop, the two loops link together to make an 'S' shape on the print. There are two deltas residing in this particular pattern.

The Whorls
The whorls are seen in 25 to 35 percent of all fingerprints. Any fingerprints consisting of two or more ridges are considered a whorl.

Plain Whorl

In a plain whorl, the deltas make a complete circuit creating a circular print.



Fingerprint Lab

In this lab, we stamped our fingerprints onto a sheet of paper used for criminals to record their prints.

Most of the fingerprints I had were either ulnar loops, or radial loops. No whorls were found in my prints and two arches were found on the right hand.

HOW TO COLLECT/LIFT PRINTS

1. Coat the present fingerprint with powder; talc if on dark surface and granite if on light surface.
2. Brush over the print gently without disturbing it with soft brush made of either camelhair or a regular fiberglass brush.
3. Place the sticky side of a transparent tape on the dusted fingerprint
4. Tape the print onto a contrasting colored paper.

Lifting Fingerprint Lab

Using the above procedures, we conducted an experiment in lab using granite.

To obtain oil to make our fingerprint visible, we rubbed our finger on either the side of the nose or the forehead to obtain natural oil collected on the body.  The granite powder was not fine enough for it to leave a complete print on the tape. A lot of them were little pebbles, interfering with the lifting. The one to the far right was the best out of all, because the pattern was visible.

Bibliography

http://www.odec.ca/projects/2004/fren4j0/public_html/types_prints.htm

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_409/1244836472mo934k.jpg

http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/blogs/scott_blog/?entry=entry090813-132157

http://www.anilaggrawal.com/ij/vol_002_no_001/papers/paper005.html