Questioned Documents: A Lawyer's Handbook

Front Cover
Academic Press, Sep 28, 2000 - Law - 217 pages
Questioned documents are any documents that may be used as evidence in a trial, ranging from handwritten notes to counterfeit currency to contracts. This concise new handbook is designed specifically to aid lawyers involved in cases that involve questioned documents (QD) evidence. It explains the basics of document examination and helps litigators improve the way they present document evidence and question witnesses. It also provides references to professional literature and other legal sources, making it easy to find further information when needed.
Questioned Documents: A Lawyer's Handbook provides analyses applied to many types of investigations and types of documents. It outlines the techniques for determining authenticity, age, ink and paper sources, handwriting identification, equipment used, forgeries, alterations, erasures, and more. In addition to helping the attorneys who mush present the QD evidence and ask the questions, this handbook is also an important resource for the expert witnesses who will be asked those questions at trial.

Key Features
* Explains the basics of document examination and shows how they apply to a variety of cases
* Helps litigators improve the way they present document evidence and interrogate witnesses
* Saves hours in pre-trial interviews by providing lawyers with the a thorough knowledge of the topic
* Presents case examples from the US, UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Nepal, Israel, Jordan, Russia, Romania and more
* Includes actual questions that can be asked of expert witnesses
* Provides an extensive list of references and research suggestions
* Helps document examiners learn about the application of their expertise in the courtroom, and what to expect when questioned by attorneys
 

Selected pages

Contents

INTRODUCTION
1
HANDWRITING
27
TYPEWRITERS
59
PRINTERS
81
OTHER OFFICE MACHINES
89
CACHETS AND SEALS
95
PRINTING
97
DOCUMENT COPYING
103
OFFICE SUPPLIES
143
FINGERPRINTS ON DOCUMENTS
147
EXAMINATION EQUIPMENT
153
EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS TO BE EXAMINED
161
COURTROOM TESTIMONY SAMPLE QUESTIONS
183
LATIN CHARACTER TYPEFONT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS
191
ARABIC CHARACTER TYPEFONTS
201
HEBREW CHARACTER TYPEFONTS
203

PHOTOGRAPHY
111
WRITING INKS AND DYES PENS AND PENCILS
115
PAPER
127
ERASURES OBLITERATIONS AND ALTERATIONS
137
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT ORGANIZATIONS
205
PUBLICATIONS
209
INDEX
211
Copyright

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About the author (2000)

Jay Levinson received his Ph.D. and undergraduate degrees from New York University. From 1972 until 1981 he worked for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a document examiner. He is a member of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, and was certified as a diplomate by the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners. In 1981 Dr Levinson joined the Israel National Police, first as a document examiner, then as a training officer. He now heads up special projects in the crime laboratory division. Dr Levinson has published more than 80 articles and papers dealing with document examination and forensic science. He has also given instruction in document examination in more than 20 countries and as an invited lecturer at several universities.

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