NOTES IN QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
PUBLIC DOCUMENT – notarized by a
EXAMINATION
WEEK 1
Prepared and Compiled by: Honey Angelu
Mirafuentes, RCrim
QUESTIONED – any material, object, matter in
which some issue has been raised or is under
scrutiny.
DOCUMENT – came from the Latin word
“documentum” which means lesson or
instruction and French word “docere” which
means to teach.
 A document is any material containing
marks, symbols, or signs either visible,
partially visible that may present or
ultimately convey a meaning to someone. It
can be in form of pencil, ink writing
(ballpoint pen writing), typewriting or
printing on paper.
 Simply put, it is any material that conveys a
meaning or message to a person.
 The term document applies to writings,
words printed, lithographed or
photographed; to maps or plans, to
seals, plates or even stones in which
inscriptions are cut or engraved.
According to Microsoft Encarta Reference
Library (as a noun)
1. Formal piece of writing
2. Object containing information
3. Computer file
According to Microsoft Encarta Reference
Library (as a verb)
1. Record information in or on media
2. Support a claim with evidence
TYPES OF DOCUMENTS:
1.
notary public or competent public
official with solemnities required by law
(Cacnio vs Baens, 5 Phil. 542)
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 duty.
3. PRIVATE DOCUMENT – executed by a
private person without the intervention
of a 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.
Mercantile Law - the body of law that
applies to the rights, relations, and conduct
of persons and business engaged in
commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales.
5. ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT (E-Document)
– exist only in electronic form such as
data stored on a computer, network,
back-up, archive or other storage
media.
Ex. Emails, instant messages (messenger), e-
calendars, data on handheld devices, graphics,
photographs, spreadsheets, websites.
(governed by RA 8792, Camara 2022)
RULE 4: BEST EVIDENCE RULE
Rules on Electronic Evidence June 18, 2001
Section 1. Original of an electronic document. –
An electronic document shall be regarded as
the equivalent of an original document under
the Best Evidence Rule if it is a printout or EXEMPLAR – a term used by some document
output readable by sight or other means, shown examiners and attorneys to characterize known
to reflect the data accurately. materials. It is the new term for standards.

EXAMINATION – it is the process of detailed HOLOGRAPHIC DOCUMENT – any document

inspection or investigation
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT – one in which the
facts appearing therein may not be true and the
document is being contested either in whole or
part with respect to its authenticity, identity or
origin.
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINATION – it is
defined as one in which the genuineness or
originality of a certain document has been
raised or it is uncertain and it is subject to
examination for confirmation of authenticity or
falsity.
completely written and signed by one person. It
is also known as a holograph.
REFERENCE COLLECTION – material compiled
and organized by the document examiner to
assist him in answering special questions.
Reference collections of typewriting, check
writing specimens, inks, pens, pencils and
papers are frequently maintained.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND
PERSONALITIES IN QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
EXAMINATION

GENERAL BASIC TERMINOLOGIES

GRAHOLOGY – the study of a person’s

handwriting to determine their personality.

DISPUTED DOCUMENT – a term that suggests

that there is an argument or controversy over
the document. Disputed Document and
Questioned Document are used interchangeably
to signify a document that is under scrutiny.

STANDARD (STANDARD DOCUMENT) – are

condensed and compact set of authentic
specimens which if adequate and proper,
should contain a cross section of the material
from a known source.

 “standards” in questioned document

investigation are those documents or
objects in which the origin is known and
can be proven and which can be legally
used as examples to compare with other
matters in question. Usually, a standard
consist of the known handwriting of a
person such case, “standard” has the same
meaning as is understood by the word
“specimen” of handwriting.
1. ALBERT SHERMAN OSBORN – he is
considered as the FATHER OF
SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT/ FATHER OF
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
EXAMINATION.
- he is the first American prominent in
the field of forgery detection, and
author of the seminal QUESTIONED
DOCUMENTS. Because of his efforts
and contribution, courts began to
accept the presentation of forged
documents as scientific evidence.
- He founded the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINERS
(ASQDE) on September 2, 1942.
2. ALBERT D. OSBORN – he was the third
President of the ASQDE. He served in
the military during WW1. Upon
returning from overseas in 1919, he
began attending meetings that
eventually led to the formation of the
ASQDE.
 In 1942, he was one of the 15 men who
founded the society.
 He was the son of the founding president
of ASQDE – Albert S. Osborn and was
associated with him in private practice for
many years.
 A.D. Osborn’s sons, Paul Osborn and John
P. Osborn, both became examiners of
questioned documents, as did his grandson
John P. Osborn, among their high profile
cases.
 He was one of the document examiners
who testified for the prosecution in the
case against Bruno Hauptmann in the
kidnapping/murder of Lindbergh baby.
 He is also the co-author of the book
Questioned Document Problems with his
father. As well as an author of many
professional papers.
3. B.J. VREELAND HARING AND J.
HOWARD HARING – the father and son
Haring of New York were the world
famous handwriting experts who
testified on Charles A. Lindberg Jr.
kidnapping case. The defendant to the
case was Richard Bruno Hauptmann at
Flemington, New Jersey in 1935.
Fourteen letters were directed to the
famous parents of the kidnapped
Lindberg baby informing that the child
was abducted. The other letters
contained follow-up ransom demands
and instructions.
 4. J. NEWTON BAKER – a consultative
expert in disputed document and in
1955 he authored the book “LAW OF
DISPUTED AND FORGED DOCUMENTS”

5. JAMES V.P. CONWAY – an examiner of

Questioned Documents in San
Francisco, California, Postal Inspector in
charge San Francisco Identification
Laboratory U.S. Postal Inspection
Service and authored “EVIDENTIAL
DOCUMENTS”.
6.

HANS SCHEICKERT (1876-1944) – a doctor

of law and director of the Identification
Bureau of the Police Department of
Berlin until 1928.
 he was a criminology professor at the
university of Berlin in 1920 and a well-
known handwriting expert.
 7. DR. WILSON R. HARRISON – he was the
director of the British Government’s
Office Home Office Forensic Science
Society of Questioned Document
Examiners.
 he authored the book “SUSPECT
DOCUMENT EXAMINERS THEIR SCIENTIFIC
EXAMINATION” which was first published
in London, 1958,
 he had over twenty years-experience in the
examination of suspect documents for the
police forces of England and Wale and for
many government departments.
DOCUMENTS” in 1956 and a revised edition
of the text in 1982.
 He also authored DETECTING AND
DECIPHERING ERASED PENCIL WRITING,
 He became a diplomat of the American
Board of Forensic Document Examiners.
 He was instrumental in establishing the
Questioned Documents Section of the
American Academy of Forensic Sciences
(AAFS)
 From 1959 to 1960, he served as the tenth
president of AAFS.
 He is one of the few AAFS fellows to be
named a distinguished fellow and one of
only four questioned document examiners
to receive this honor.
 In 1980, he was the first recipient of AAFS

8. ORDWAY HILTON – he was the sixth

president of ASQDE. He was born in
1913 and grew up in Evanston, Illinois.
He majored in mathematics at
Northwestern University and received a
master’s degree in statistics from the
same university in 1937.
 He was the first questioned document
examiner in the then, new crime laboratory
of the Chicago Police Department.
 In 1944, while still on active duty as an
officer in the US Navy during WWII, he Questioned Document section award,
attended the second meeting of the ASQDE which would be named in his honor.
in Montclair, New Jersey which is home to
Albert S. Osborn.
 In 1946, he became associated with
ELBRIDGE STEIN – the first secretary of the
ASQDE in his private practice in New York
City. He continued the practice alone when
Mr. Stein retired in 1951.
 In 1979, Mr. Hilton moved his practice to
Landrum, South Carolina where he became
a prolific writer of journal articles and
professional papers. He authored one of
the best known text in the field “SCIENTIFIC
EXAMINATION OF QUESTIONED

9. ROY A. HUBER – he was the 24th
president of the ASQDE.
 after joining the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police in 1940, he worked as a police
constable at various detachments in the
Province of Saskatchewan.
 in 1949, he transferred to the document
section of the RCMP’s Regina Laboratory to
commence a career that would span more
than fifty years,
 under the tutelage of senior document
examiner HUGH RADCLIFF and CHESTER
EAVES – he completed his training program
and moves to the RCMP’s Eastern
Laboratory in Ottawa.
 He wrote and presented more than 30
papers including such titles as TYPIST
IDENTIFICATION, MODERN TRENDS IN
COUNTERFEITING, THE PRODUCTION AND
IDENTIFICATION OF EMBOSSING SEALS
and THE QUANDARY OF “QUALIFIED”
OPINIONS.
 In 1999, he published a book entitled
“HANDWRITING IDENTIFICATION – FACTS
AND FUNDAMENTALS” which has become
an important text in the training of forensic
document examiners.
 The first ASQDE conference that he
attended was the 1955 meeting that was
held in Houston, Texas.
 He presented his first ASQDE paper entitled
“THE POTENTIALITIES OF THE BLINK
MICROSCOPE PRINCIPLE IN TYPEWRITING
COMPARISONS”
 He joined ASQDE as a Provisional Member and
was elected as a Regular Member in 1964.
 For over 40 years, he attended ASDQE annual
conferences and missed only two meetings for
reasons beyond his control.
 He served on its Board of Directors as secretary
and VP prior to his election as president.
 In 2001, he was elected as a life member and
continued to support the Society as a member
of its Nominating and Journal Committees.
 In 2003, he received the Albert S. Osborn award
of Excellence in recognition of his distinguished
career and many contributions he made both
to the ASQDE and the profession as a whole.
 10. CHARLES CHABOT – he was an English
graphologist, who as part of the of the
firm, NETHERCLIFT, CHABOT AND
MATHESON, was an early practitioner
of questioned document examination.
Chabot was born in Battersea, the son
of Charles, a lithographer.
 Beginning as a lithographer, he developed
as an expert in handwriting and became
sought after as an expert witness in a
variety of famous trials including the
Roupell Case and Tichborne Case.
 In 1871, Chabot became involved in
establishing the identity of Junius and
concluded that he was Sir Philip Francis.