Lawyers are interested in the forensic examination of disputed records for three main reasons: Case value, avoiding client perjury, and due diligence to the client. Many attorneys are aware that Forensic Document Examiners can determine the authenticity of a signature and do various examinations on typewriters (see below) and printed documents. However; many attorneys are not aware of examinations to detect additions, alterations, or rewritings.
Our laboratory can:
1. Detect an alteration made with a different pen, albeit a color-matched ink.
2. Determine the age of a document.
3. Determine the age of a particular ink.
4. Determine when an ink was first commercially available.
5. Determine if additions, alterations, or rewritings of records have occurred, when it happened, who did it, and what pages were replaced.
In a case regarding the record tampering issue to be deemed significant, an addition to a record should have at least one of the following criteria:
1. The intentional concealment of a change that is not clearly noted but takes instrumentation to detect.
2. An addition or change to a critical entry.
3. An entry that was not made contemporaneously with the other entries with no notation of late charting.
4. A pattern of alterations to the critical entries.
5. Testimony is different than the forensic evidence present.
6. The whiting-out, scribbling out or obliteration of an entry.
7. The removal of pages from the records, or expanding the chart with pages created after the fact.
Additions that are made with color-matched ink can usually be detected by the use of an infrared image converter or possibly an argon or krypton laser. The difference in the ink in this range of light is caused by the different excitation levels in the inks. If the inks are different, one ink may luminesce while the other will not and filter out. This can be captured photographically and makes an excellent court exhibit as shown in figures A through C below, or on closed circuit video.
This is especially important when the questioned entry is the lynchpin entry in a case. Some signs to look for that may indicate record tampering:
Figure A
Check tendered (with a denomination of $8,000)
Figure A
Check tendered (with a denomination of $8,000)
Figure C
Original check as seen through an infra-red image converter
(with denomination of $2,000)
Speckin Forensic Laboratories has been involved in cases all around the world, from North America, South America, Australia, Europe, Asia, Japan, Hong Kong, and all 50 of the U.S. states Our examiners have presented testimony in over 30 states in the United States, as well as, Jamaica, Israel, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada. Contact Speckin Forensic Laboratories today for more information about our services.
Speckin Forensic Laboratories has been requested to share its services in the Federal Court, Circuit Court, District Court, Supreme Court, NASD Arbitrations, Employment Arbitrations, Depositions, Municipal Court, Board of Canvassers, Federal Grand Juries, Detroit Recorder’s Court, and Union Arbitrations on over 1000 occasions.