Forensic Document Examination

Forensic Document Examination
Author: Katherine M. Koppenhaver
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2007-12-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1597453013

This book introduces the reader to the basic principles of handwriting and the factors that affect their development. The book discusses the basic concept of the characteristics of writing that are compared when making an identification or elimination of a writer. In addition, readers will be able to recognize the signs of forgery and disguise and to distinguish between simulation and disguise.

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2009-07-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0309142393

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

Computational Forensics

Computational Forensics
Author: Hiroshi Sako
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2011-02-23
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3642193757

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Computational Forensics, IWCF 2010, held in Tokyo, Japan in November 2010. The 16 revised full papers presented together with two invited keynote papers were carefully selected during two rounds of reviewing and revision. The papers cover a wide range of current topics in computational forensics including authentication, biometrics, document analysis, multimedia, forensic tool evaluation, character recognition, and forensic verification.

Attorney's Guide to Document Examination

Attorney's Guide to Document Examination
Author: Katherine Koppenhaver
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1567204708

Attorneys must develop many skills in order to benefit fully from their collaborations with forensic document examiners in cases involving questioned documents. This comprehensive guide for attorneys provides a thorough grounding in how to prepare for court and deposition testimony. It also explains how to select appropriate comparison documents for forensic document examiners, the basic principles of handwriting identification (the knowledge of which enables lawyers to challenge incorrect statements), and what document examiners can and cannot determine based on the evidence. When the authenticity of a document is in question in the courtroom, forensic document examiners are brought in to determine such things as whether a signature has been forged, whether the document has been altered, and whether it is all things it purports to be. The examination of suspect documents generally involves comparison with examples of known genuine writing. Attorneys need to know how to select appropriate comparison documents for forensic document examiners. This is but one of the many skills that attorneys must develop in order to benefit fully from their collaborations with forensic document examiners, and it is explained here in detail. So, too, are the basic principles of handwriting identification, the knowledge of which enables lawyers to challenge incorrect statements. This comprehensive and thorough guide for attorneys also explains what document examiners can and cannot determine based on the evidence, and it provides a thorough grounding in how to prepare for court and deposition testimony. Among the many unique features of this attorney's guide is an extensive list of questions for lawyers to ask their own, and their opponent's, expert witnesses before going to trial. The deposition of a forensic document examiner includes questions relating to the examiner's experience, working methodology, background and education, knowledge base, certifications, achievements, and many other items relating to the examiner's abilities. Next, an extensive set of questions helps lawyers ask for the right information pertaining to the examiner's specific methods of preparation for the case at hand. After the deposition is taken, the expert must be qualified in court; this book includes 60 qualifying questions. After qualification, it is time to move on to questions about document examination and the case being litigated. Finally, new questions pertaining specifically to the cross-examination of document examiners are presented, once again relating to credentials and a given case. This valuable resource concludes with a chapter describing the relevance of various court citations involving handwriting. Appendices are devoted to suggested reading; a resource list of experts related to the field, including photographers, librarians, and appraisers; organizations; and a glossary of technical terms.

Forensics Under Fire

Forensics Under Fire
Author: Jim Fisher
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2008-02-04
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0813544246

Television shows like CSI, Forensic Files, and The New Detectives make it look so easy. A crime-scene photographer snaps photographs, a fingerprint technician examines a gun, uniformed officers seal off a house while detectives gather hair and blood samples, placing them carefully into separate evidence containers. In a crime laboratory, a suspect's hands are meticulously examined for gunshot residue. An autopsy is performed in order to determine range and angle of the gunshot and time-of-death evidence. Dozens of tests and analyses are performed and cross-referenced. A conviction is made. Another crime is solved. The credits roll. The American public has become captivated by success stories like this one with their satisfyingly definitive conclusions, all made possible because of the wonders of forensic science. Unfortunately, however, popular television dramas do not represent the way most homicide cases in the United States are actually handled. Crime scenes are not always protected from contamination; physical evidence is often packaged improperly, lost, or left unaccounted for; forensic experts are not always consulted; and mistakes and omissions on the autopsy table frequently cut investigations short or send detectives down the wrong investigative path. In Forensics Under Fire, Jim Fisher makes a compelling case that these and other problems in the practice of forensic science allow offenders to escape justice and can also lead to the imprisonment of innocent people. Bringing together examples from a host of high-profile criminal cases and familiar figures, such as the JonBenet Ramsey case and Dr. Henry Lee who presented physical evidence in the O. J. Simpson trial, along with many lesser known but fascinating stories, Fisher presents daunting evidence that forensic science has a long way to go before it lives up to its potential and the public's expectations.