Handwriting

Comparison of handwriting samples is called questioned document examination and involves the comparison of documents and writing to identify persons who are the source of the writing or to reveal forgeries. It is based on the claimed ability to determine the authorship of a piece of handwriting by examining the way in which the letters are inscribed, shaped, and joined and by comparing it to known examples of writing by a suspect. Handwriting examiners claim that no two people write alike and that no one person writes the same way twice. It was first widely accepted after it was part of the cornerstone of the prosecution case in State v. Hauptmann , the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Since then, it has been almost widely accepted as admissible. With electronic communication, the use of cursive writing has declined, and the use of handwriting comparison by law enforcement has likewise decreased, although cursive is still used to sign a number of legal and other documents that may be the subject of criminal investigation. As with several other such routinely accepted types of pattern evidence, scientists are now skeptical about the reliability of handwriting comparison expert testimony. The FBI and the U.S. Postal Service still have active handwriting analysis units and are pursuing new, more scientific methods of analysis.