Question- What is Questioned Documents Examination?
Answer- Questioned document examinations involve a comparison of the document, or aspects of the document, to a set of known standards (i.e., authentic specimens). The goal of the forensic document examiner is to systematically evaluate the attributes and characteristics of a document in order to reveal how it was prepared or how it may have been modified.
Question- What is the work of Questioned Document Examiner?
Answer- Document examiners are often called upon not only to identify the type of ink involved in a questioned document, but also the source of the ink. Determining the origin of the ink on a document may be especially useful in helping examiners to detect fraudulent entries or alterations in a document. For example, a fraudulent entry in a will may be added with ink that is visually similar but chemically different from that of the rest of the document, indicating that it was not included at the time of its original writing. While differentiation among inks can be accomplished by visual examination, nondestructive, and chemical tests, positive identification of the specific source of the ink (i.e., the exact pen) is unlikely. More probably, the examiner will be able to trace the ink back to the specific type, class, and or brand of ink, and suggest that it is scientifically indistinguishable from the suspected source. Infrared or ultraviolet examination also may allow the examiner to differentiate between different types of ink.