DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES

COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION

LAOAG CITY

MODULE GUIDE
FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
THIRD YEAR/ 1ST SEMESTER
S.Y. 2021-22

UNIT I
This unit presents an overview and historical development of Papers and pen. This also include the
study of handwriting and document.

TOPIC I. Brief History

Learning Objectives: At the end of this topic, you are expected to;

Know the historical development of papers and invention of pen.

Define the technical definition of questioned document.
Understand the different kind of handwriting and documents.

Lecture
Invention of Paper

The word paper comes from the ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was woven from
papyrus plants. Papyrus was produced as early as 3000 BCE in Egypt, and in ancient Greece and Rome.
Further north, parchment or vellum, made of processed sheepskin or calfskin, replaced papyrus, as the
papyrus plant requires subtropical conditions to grow. In China, documents were ordinarily written on bamboo,
making them heavy and awkward to transport. Silk was sometimes used, but was normally too expensive to
consider. Indeed, most of the above materials were rare and costly.

Ts’ai Lun

The Chinese court official Ts’ai Lun described the modern method of papermaking in AD 105; he was the first
person to describe how to make paper from cotton rags. Other sources trace the invention of this type of
papermaking to China in 150 BCE.
It spread slowly outside of China; other East Asian cultures, even after seeing paper,
could not figure out how to make it themselves. Instruction in the manufacturing
process was required, and the Chinese were reluctant to share their secrets.
The technology was first transferred to Korea in 600 and then imported to Japan
around 610 by a Buddhist priest, Dam Jing from Goguryeo, where fibres (called bast)
from the mulberry tree were used.
Papermaking Technology
After further commercial trading and the defeat of the Chinese in the Battle of Talas, the invention
spread to the Middle East, where it was adopted in India and subsequently in Italy in about the 13th century.
They used hemp and linen rags as a source of fiber. The oldest known paper document in the West is the
Missal of Silos from the 11th century.
Some historians speculate that paper was the key element in global cultural advancement. According to
this theory, Chinese culture was less developed than the West in ancient times because bamboo, while
abundant, was a clumsier writing material than papyrus. Chinese culture advanced during the Han Dynasty
and preceding centuries due to the invention of paper; and Europe advanced during the Renaissance due to
the introduction of paper and the printing press.

QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 1 | 

FOR 4 –
DCCP-CCJE. 2020-21
 DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LAOAG CITY

FACULTY.LAOAG
The Modern Papermaking Process
Paper remained a luxury item through the centuries, until the advent of steam-driven papermaking
machines in the 19th century, which could make paper with fibers from wood pulp. Although older machines
predated it, the Fourdrinier machine became the basis for most modern papermaking.

In 1807, the Fourdrinier

papermaking machine was patented in
France. This machine worked by a
continuous process: pulp was fed onto a belt
of wire cloth that was continually moving, so
that the sheet was left on the surface while
the water drained through the wire.
The paper was smoothed on rotating
heated cylinders, or calendars, and on to the
reel. This was cut up into the appropriate length
of sheets, which were then traditionally counted
into reams. The Fourdrinier brothers were
able to increase their production of paper ten-fold, from 60 to 100 lbs. per day by hand, to 1,000 lbs. per
day using their new machine. Fifty years after the mechanization of the process, the price of paper had
dropped by almost one half.
Together with the invention of the practical fountain pen and the mass-produced pencil of the same
period, and in conjunction with the advent of the steam-driven rotary printing press, wood-based paper caused
a major transformation of the 19th-century economy and society in industrialized countries.
Before this era, a book or a newspaper was a rare luxury object, and illiteracy was the norm. With the
gradual introduction of cheap paper, schoolbooks, fiction, nonfiction, and newspapers became slowly available
to nearly all members of society. Cheap wood-based paper also meant that keeping personal diaries or writing
letters ceased to be reserved to a privileged few. The office worker or the white-collar worker was slowly born
of this transformation, which can be considered as a part of the industrial revolution.
THE EVOLUTION OF PEN Pencils

The earliest pencils date back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used flat cakes of lead to mark
faint black lines on papyrus (an early form of paper) to guide writers. In the Middle Ages, people used thin rods
of lead or silver for drawing. The marking ability of graphite was discovered in the 1500’s, and the first
modern pencil—that is, one consisting of a wood case glued around a stick of graphite—was made in
the late 1700’s.

In 1795, Nicholas Jacques Conte, a French chemist, developed a pencil of powdered graphite and clay.
His mixture proved to be as smooth and hard as pure graphite. Conte also discovered that a harder or softer
writing core could be produced by varying the proportions of clay and graphite.

In the mid-1800’s, William Monroe, a Massachusetts cabinetmaker, invented a machine that cut and
grooved wood slats precisely enough to make pencils. About the same time, the American inventor Joseph
Dixon developed the method of cutting single cedar cylinders in half to receive the core and then gluing them
back together. In 1861, the first pencil-making factory in the United States was built in New York City by
Eberhard Faber, an American manufacturer. The first mechanical pencil was patented by the Eagle Pencil
Company in 1879.

As early as 4,000 B.C., ancient peoples used crude pens consisting of hollow straws or reeds that
supported a short column of liquid. During the 500’s B.C., people began to make pens from the wing feathers
of such birds as geese and swans. The shaft of the feathers was hardened, and the writing tip was shaped and
slit to make writing easy. These feather pens were known as quill pens, and they were widely used until the
development of steel-nib pens in the 1800’s.

By the late 1800’s, inventors had perfected an early version of the fountain pen. This pen represented a
major improvement over previous pens, because it featured an ink reservoir and a capillary feed. Earlier pens
held only a small amount of ink at a time and had to be repeatedly dipped in ink.

FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 2 |  DCCP-CCJE.

FACULTY. LAOAG 2020-21
 DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LAOAG CITY

THE FIRST FOUNTAIN PEN

In 1883, L. E. Waterman, an insurance salesman, purchased a writing contraption with its own ink
reservoir. But when it leaked, ruining a sale, he got an idea for a better one and decided to make it himself. In
those days a salesman often wore a vest chain with a small metal container holding a vial of ink in one pocket
and a collapsible penholder in the other. Waterman examined several so-called pocket pens and saw that
none of them had a mechanism for the sure control of ink flow. He determined to invent one. Applying the
principle of capillary attraction, he designed a feed with a groove for air intake and three narrow slits in the
bottom of the groove. As air bubbles interred, they pressed against the ink in the barrel and the ink descended
through the slits in a uniform flow to the pen point.
This device was so novel the Patent Office granted a patent in 1884, only a few months after the filing.
Waterman claimed that his new mechanism would "prevent the excessive discharge of the ink when the pen is
in use." It was the first practical fountain pen and its three-fissure feed became the standard principle for all
other makes produced thereafter.

Waterman started assembling his pens on a kitchen table in the rear of a cigar store. In September of
1885 he started to advertise. After that Waterman’s Ideal rode the road to fortune.

The Waterman Company (L. E. Waterman died in 1901.

The first Ball Point Pen
The first patent for a ball point pen was No. 392,046, granted October 30, 1888, to John J. Loud of
Weymouth, Mass. Loud used the pen to mark leather fabrics. Another ball point pen device was patented by
Van Vechten Riesburg in 1916. Both patents lapsed without improvement renewal.

Ballpoint pens received little notice until World War 11(1939-1945). Many pilots began using ballpoint
pens during this conflict, because such pens did not leak at high altitudes. After the war, ballpoint pens
became increasingly popular. Soft-tip pens and rolling-ball pens both were introduced during the 1960’s.

The first ball point pen to replace the then common "fountain pen" was introduced by Milton Reynolds in
1945. It used a tiny ball bearing which rolled heavy gelatin ink onto the paper. The Reynolds Pen was a crude
writing instrument, but it sold like "hot cakes" when first introduced at a price of $10, using the slogan "It writes
under water." Competition finally forced prices down to less than 10 cents for ball point pens by 1960. By then
the Reynolds pen had disappeared from the market place.

TOPIC II. STUDY OF HANDWRITING AND DOCUMENT

Questioned Document Examination has been a profession, at least since 1870, and is frequently done in
cases of forgery, counterfeiting, mail, kidnapping, con games, embezzlement, gambling, organized crime,
white collar crime, art crime, theft, robbery, arson, burglary, homicide, serial number, psychological profiling,
and deviant sex crime.

The examination of questioned document falls into two broad classes:

1. Criminalistics Examination – for detection of forgeries, alteration and obliterations.
2. Handwriting Identification – to find out who is the author of the writing.

The Criminalistics Examination of questioned document is similar to other kinds of laboratory work. Dr.
Wilson Harrison, the noted British Examiner of questioned document says that an intelligent police investigator
can detect almost 75 % of all his magnifiers and measuring tools. The examination of document in the
criminalistics laboratory is also a scientific procedure which can be learned in a very short time.

TECHNICAL TERMS IN QUESTIONED DOCUMENT

 DOCUMENT – Any material which contain marks, symbol or signs, either visible, partially visible or
invisible that may presently or ultimately convey meaning to someone.
 QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS – Any document about which some issues have been raised or under
scrutiny.
 Questioned – Any material which some issue has been raised or which is under scrutiny.

FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 3 |  DCCP-CCJE.

FACULTY. LAOAG 2020-21
 DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LAOAG CITY

 Disputed Document – A term suggesting that there is an argument or controversy over the document
and strictly speaking this is true meaning. However, disputed and questioned document are used
interchangeably to signify a document that is under special scrutiny.
 HANDWRITING – It is the result of a very complicated series of act being as a whole a combination of
a certain forms of visible mental and muscular habits acquired by a long continued painstaking effort
 SIGNATURE – Is name of person written by himself on a document as sign of acknowledgement
 CHARACTERISTICS – Is any property or mark which distinguishes and in document examination
commonly refers to the identifying details. There are two groups of characteristics

* Class Characteristics – not all characteristics encountered in document examination are

peculiar to a single person or thing, and one which is common to a group may be described as
class characteristics
* Individual Characteristics – A characteristics which is highly personal or peculiar and is likely
to occur in other instances are best described as individual

 HABIT – Is any repeated element or detail which may serve to individualize writing
 QUALITY – Is a distinct or peculiar character. In this text, quality is used in describing handwriting to
refer to any identifying factor which is related to the writing movement itself.
 NATURAL VARIATION – The normal or usual deviation found in repeated specimen of any individual
handwriting
 LINE QUALITY – Is the overall character of the written strokes from the initial to the terminal
 STROKE – Are series of lines or curves within a single letter
 SKILL – Is the proficiency in the art of writing, usually described to dexterity and legibility in writing
 SLANT – Is the angle or inclination of the axis of letters relative to the baseline
 BASELINE – The ruled or imaginary line upon which the writing rest
 NATURAL WRITING – Any specimen of writing executed normally without any attempt to control or
alter its identifying habits and its usual quality of execution
 DISGUISED WRITING – A writer may deliberately try to alter his usual writing habits in hopes of hiding
his identity
 SIGNIFICANT WRITING HABITS –This term is applied to any characteristics of handwriting which is
sufficiently unique and well-fixed to serve as a fundamental point in the identification
 HIATUS – Is a gap between strokes. This is influenced by speed of writing, defective writing instrument
 PEN-LIFT – Is an interruption in stroke caused by removing or lifting the writing instrument from the
paper
 HESITATION – It is the irregular thickening of the ink line when the writing slows down or stops while
the writer takes stock of the position.
 LATERAL SPACING – Is the horizontal spacing between letters or words.
 ALIGNMENT – Is the relation of parts of the whole line of writing or line of individual letter in words to
the baseline.
 TREMOR – Is an irregular shaky stroke
 RHYTHM – Is the flowing succession of motion which are
 recorded or the harmonious recurrence of stress or impulse
 PROPOTION – Relation of the tall and short letters
 PEN PRESSURE – The average force with which the pen contracts the paper
 PATCHING – Retouching or going back over a defective writing strokes
 SHADING –The widening of ink stroke due to added pressure on a flexible pen point or the use of such
pen
 GUIDED SIGNATURE – Signatures executed while the writers hand is steadied anyway
 RETRACING – Stroke which goes back another stroke
 SEQUENCE OF STROKE – The order in which writing stokes are placed on the paper.
 STANDARD DOCUMENTS – Are condensed and compact set of authentic specimen which if adequate
and proper should contain a true cross-section of the material from a known source.
 Holograph Document – is a document which is completely written and signed by one person.

LEGAL ASPECTS OF DOCUMENTS

A. Legal Basis of Documents:
1. In the case of People vs. Moreno, CA 338 O.G. 119: any written document by which a right is
established or an obligation is extinguished.
2. In the case of People vs. Nillosquin, CA 48 O.G. 4453: every deed or instrument executed by
person by which some disposition or agreement is proved, evidenced or setforth.

FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 4 |  DCCP-CCJE.

FACULTY. LAOAG 2020-21
 DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LAOAG CITY

3. In relation to Criminal Jurisprudence under the Best Evidence rule: any physical embodiment of
information or ideas; e.g. a letter, a contract, a receipt, a book of account, a blur print, or an X-
ray plate(Black’s Law Dictionary)

B. Kinds of Document:
1. Public Document – notarized by a notary public or competent public official with solemnities
required by law. (Cacnio vs. Baens, 5 Phil. 742)
2. Official Document – issued by the government or its agents or its officers having the authority
to do so and the offices, which in accordance with their creation, they are authorized to issue
and be issued in the performance of their duties.
3. Private Document – executed by a private person without the intervention of notary public or of
any person legally authorized, by which documents, some disposition or agreement is proved
evidenced or set forth (US vs Orera, 11 Phil. 596).
4. Commercial Document – executed in accordance with the Code of Commerce or any
Mercantile Law, containing disposition of commercial rights or obligations.
5. Electronic Document (E- Documents) – exist only in electronic form such as data stored on a
computer, network, backup, archive or other storage media. Examples of documents subject to
e-discovery are e-mails, voicemails, instant messages, e-calendars, audio files, data on
handheld devices, animation,metadata, graphics, photographs, speedsheets, websites,drawings
and other types of digital data. (Governed by RA 8792)

WRITINGS WHICH DO NOT CONSTITUTE AS DOCUMENTS – based on some Supreme Court Rulings.
1. A draft of a Municipalof payroll which is not yet approved by the proper authority (People vs. Camacho,
44 Phil. 484).
2. Mere blank forms of official documents, the spaces of which are not filled up (People vs. Santiago, CA,
48 O.G. 4558)
3. Pamphlets or books which do not evidence any disposition or agreement are not documents but are
mere merchandise (People vs. Agnis, 47 Phil. 945).

PROCESSES IN SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF EXAMINATION

a. Analysis – properties or characteristics are observed, measured and determined.

b. Comparison – properties or characteristics of the unknown items determined thru analysis are
compared with the familiar or recorded properties of known items.

c. Evaluation – similarities or dissimilarities in property or characteristics that have certain value for
identification are determined by their likelihood or occurrence.

d. Verification – It is the process of double checking the accuracy and correctness of the examination
usually conducted by other experts in the said field.

The examination involves, therefore, the recognition, complete comparison, and correct interpretation or
evaluation of the handwriting.

CRITERION FOR SCIENCE

a. Accuracy – correspondence between results obtained and the truth.
b. Precision – measure of the consistency of results obtained in repeated study or experimentation.

No two people write exactly alike: the writing process is so complex that personal peculiarities always
persist in the handwriting of any given individual. Detailed examination reveals these hidden characteristics
which can then form the basis for an experts’ opinion.

BASIC REQUIREMENT IN QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINATION (PNP-CLO SOP)

A. Request
1. Document examination shall be based on written request from any investigating agency of the
government, court order and/ or private requesting party, provided that the letter has been approved
by the director, PNPCL.

FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 5 |  DCCP-CCJE.

FACULTY. LAOAG 2020-21
 DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LAOAG CITY

2. Document previously examined by any competent agencies of the government shall not be
reexamined except there is a court order.
3. If the case is undergoing trial in court, disputed documents shall be examined only upon order of the
court having jurisdiction of the case.

B. Standard Specimens
The specimens to be submitted will be dependent on the questioned documents under
investigation. First, the original document is necessary and the standards to be collected or requested
should be sufficient; and observance of similarity of subject matters is necessary.

THE LOGICAL PROGRESS OF INQUIRY IN DOCUMENT EXAMINATION.

A. FIRST – ASCERTAIN THE FACTS: to select “QUESTIONED, DENIED OR
ADMITTED,AUTHENTIC, and DOUBTFUL documents.
1. Concerning the Document in Questioned.
a. Is only one signature in questioned?
b. Is any part of the document in question?
c. Is the date of the document in questioned?
d. Is the paper or the typewriter used in the document in questioned?

2. Regarding the Standards:

a. Make sure that there are sufficient numbers of authentic document for comparison
submitted. If there are inadequate standards, obtain more.
b. Determine whether the standards are authentic ones, on which a foundation can be built for
admitting them in evidence.

B. SECOND – ANALYZE THE DETAILS: Synthesize the elements, date, circumstances,

conditions, technical problems and the like.
1. The examiner after ascertaining the facts, should have detailed information as to a
circumstances of the document in questioned, the condition of an alleged writer, or of any
condition that may have affected the writing or typewriting or any facts that are part of the
technical problem with the document that is submitted to the expert.
2. He should inquire about the circumstances and conditions as far as the client knows, such as;
was the document signed sitting on the wall, on the lap, or lying in bed? Sitting on bed, lying on
his back or side? For example, a document could have been signed in a moving automobile or
while having a drink at the bar.

C. THIRD- QUALIFY THE CASE:

1. How much time is needed for the examination?
2. Is it possible to complete the study from the original papers, or is it necessary to make special
photo-enlargements for proper examination?
3. If it is possible to make arrangements with the client for photo-enlargement, is it advisable to do
so?
4. Photo-enlargements are always useful for demonstrating the reasons on which the opinion is
based, especially in Court.

CLASSES OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

I-Questioned Signature
 Two kinds of signature
1. conventional – letters are readable
2. Highly individualized – consist of many intertwining strokes and ornamentations
 Categories of forgery
1. Simple Forgery
2. Simulated
3. Traced Forgery

II - Documents containing fraudulent alteration

 Mechanical
 Physical erasure
 Chemical erasures
 Addition

FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 6 |  DCCP-CCJE.

FACULTY. LAOAG 2020-21
 DATA CENTER COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LAOAG CITY

 Interlineations
 Substitution

III -Holograph Documents Questioned or Disputed

 Examination of holographic doc
1. General features
2. Movement and manner of writing
3. Pen pressure and shading
4. Special features
5. Paper and Ink
6. Writing instrument

IV - Documents attacked on their age or date

 Investigation as to the possible age of documents includes the following:
1. Paper and water marks
2. Manner of binding and stapling
3. Tense or verbs in reference to events
4. Impressed or printed seals
5. Nib marks or steel pen in ancient documents

V – Documents attacked on Question of material used in their production

 Writing materials (paper)
 Papyrus
 Parchment
 Vellum
 Chlorine
 Esparto
 Sulphate

Material used in their production

 Writing instrument (pen)
 Quill pen
 Reed pen/swamp reed
 Ball point Pen
 Fiber tip pens

VI - Documents Investigated on the Question of type Writing

 With a view of ascertaining their source
 With a view of determining their date
 With a view of determining whether or not they contain fraudulent alteration or substituted dates

VII Doc. investigated because it is alleged that they identify person through Handwriting
 Anonymous or disputed letters
 Superscriptions, registrations and miscellaneous writings

VIII - Genuine Documents erroneously attacked

 Whether a certain writing is genuine of forged
 Whether a certain writing will identify the writer

NOTE: ASSESSMENT WILL BE DISTRIBUTED VIA GOOGLE FORMS OR ANY AVAILABLE PLATFORMS.

FOR 4 – QUESTIONED DOCUMENT 7 |  DCCP-CCJE.

FACULTY. LAOAG 2020-21