Name: ___________________________

Handwriting Analysis Day 1

Have you ever tried to copy a signature or turn in a paper with a forged signature? That
is where forgers egin their career! "f they can pull it off in school# why not ma$e a
career out of it? There are many instances of forgery throughout history! %ometimes
document e&aminers spot mista$es and catch criminals# while other times the cheaters
are still out there# forging everything from chec$s to discipline referrals that go home!
%tudying a person's handwriting is called graphology! (eople have writing styles as
individual as their fingerprints! )ven if someone is in*ured and the writing hand sustains
an in*ury# he or she will learn to write with the other hand and develop the same
characteristics of writing! +ow, There are also specialists who claim that one's
personality is revealed through his or her writing! There is pulished literature to that
effect# ut it is not accepted in the courtroom! +e'll ta$e a loo$ at some of this in %tep
- elow!
Step 1: .elow are terms we have riefly discussed efore! +rite the correct term in
each of the spaces elow!
document analysis lea$ing slope smearing
1! To e at# or have an angle that deviates from hori/ontal is called
______________!
-! ______________________ is the process of determining whether or not a
document is forged!
0! A smudge on the paper left as a person drags the palm in the in$ that has not
dried is called _______________!
1! _________________ is the process of in$ lea$ing out# creating a mar$# usually a
round dot# when a person stops or hesitates while writing!
Step 2: +hat does your handwriting say aout you? Ta$e the 2your handwriting says
what?3 4ui/ and find out,
Step 3: Activity +hat variations e&ist among samples of your writing?
Handwriting Analysis Day -
The Case of the Bad Check
5n 6riday afternoon# 7ay --# -889# :eorge ;ohannsen# the an$ president# cashed a
chec$ for a new customer! The chec$ was written to one "ngrid 7c+horter for <1#888!
He processed the transaction and paid the money to "ngrid!
The following Tuesday rolled around and a long=time customer# .rian Hasseloc$#
came storming into the an$ demanding to see ;ohannsen! Hassloc$ claimed that he had
noticed on an online an$ statement that the an$ had apparently cashed a chec$ on his
account for <1#888! Hassloc$ said he never issued such a chec$ and demanded to $now
whom the chec$ was written out to! ;ohannsen went into the ac$ and retrieved the
chec$! "t was written out to "ngrid 7c+horter# for the amount of <1#888! "t was
dated and signed y .rian Hassloc$ himself! Hassloc$ snapped at ;ohannsen that "ngrid
was one of his wor$ers >he owned a company that grew worms for fishermen?! As he
loo$ed closely at the chec$# he noticed a dirty fingerprint on it! Hassloc$ too$ the
chec$ and returned to his warehouse!
"nside the musty uilding# he headed right for the area where "ngrid wor$ed on
her worm eds! He graed her y the arm and marched her to his office! He slammed
the door and insisted on an answer as to why she would do something li$e that! %he had
een wor$ing there for twenty years# producing some of the *uiciest worms he had ever
seen! "ngride immediately denied having written the chec$! As tears streamed down
her face# Hassloc$ came to elieve her! Then it clic$ed in his mind! There were three
other women in the warehouse who had access to the chec$oo$: @atrina Tamasso#
Ni$ole Hedderon# and 7ary Aooper! He gathered all of them# rought them to his
office# and called his close friend Detective .ill @ahil to come over to investigate!
@ahil as$ed each secretary to provide a writing sample! He as$ed them to write
this sentence: 25ld 7cDonald went camping and ass fishing at the 6arian doc$!3 He
also instructed them to write in cursive! )ach one did as told and handed it over to the
detective! He also too$ fingerprints of each suspect in case he needed further
evidence for testing!
After all the women left the room# Hassloc$ 4uestioned what that sentence had
to do with anything! @ahil e&plained that he did not want them to write the e&act words
that were on the chec$! "nstead# he chose words that have similar word replications
>7cDonald and 7c+horter# camping and the ng in "ngrid# 6arian and .rian# ass and
Hassloc$# and doc$ and loc$ as in Hassloc$?!
@ahil lined up the samples ne&t to the chec$! Bsing a magnifying glass# he egan
to match up similarities and differences etween the samples and the forged chec$!
Who was it?