Program Details

An abundance of crucial information can be gathered from documents related to a criminal or civil case. The suicide note found next to the deceased—was it actually written by a killer trying to cover up his crime? The bank robber’s hold-up note—does it contain invisible impressions that indicate the address of the hideout? The will of a wealthy person—was it altered so a relative could receive a windfall? The discipline of forensic document examination, often referred to as “questioned documents,” is frequently associated with white-collar crimes such as check fraud; however, in practice, this area of forensic science can be used in a wide array of cases from medical malpractice to art forgeries to homicides. Armed with sophisticated technology, forensic document examiners can peer into the visible and invisible marks on a document to extract an abundance of details that may verify authenticity or provide additional information crucial to the investigation.