The Usual Impeachment: Signature Identification
When a handwriting expert says someone wrote a signature that the person did not, observable facts are necessarily going to contradict the opinion. Therefore, hard, observable facts will be the best impeachment material. The following is much abbreviated and modified from an extensive cross-examination in a criminal trial in Washington State. Handwriting expert Hanna McFarland asked me to work with her in formulating the questions. K-2 means the second known signature by defendant, and Q-34 the principal questioned signature he was accused of writing.
The objective was to use the prosecution’s expert to prove defendant did not sign Q-34. Questions were based on features the expert said that he observed to be similar and relied on for his opinion. The objective was so well achieved that defendant was acquitted. Enlarged exhibits permitted the jury to see for itself each feature mentioned even before the witness answered.
Q. Did you measure and compare the height of capital letters? Well, let's
do it now with this millimeter ruler I give you. Measure the capital letters.
Q. How tall are the two capitals in K-2? About 5 mm and 18 mm. Good.
Q. How tall are the two capitals in Q-34? About 30 mm and 27 mm. Good.
Q. Are capital letters 5 and 30 mm tall the same height or different
heights? Different. Good.
Q. Are capital letters 18 and 27 mm tall the same or different heights?
Different. Good.
Q. Is K-2 slanted mostly to the left, mostly vertical, or mostly to the right?
Mostly vertical. Good.
Q. Is Q-34 slanted mostly to the left, mostly vertical, or mostly to the
right? Mostly to the right.
Q. Is a vertical slant the same slant as a right slant or a different slant?
Different. Good.
Q. You also said letter disconnections were the same in K-2 and Q-24, right?
Good.
Q. Is the first name in K-2 written in one stroke without a pen lift? No
pen lift. Good.
Q. Is not the first name in Q-34 written with the pen lifted two times? Two
pen lifts. Good.
Q. Are no pen lifts and two pen lifts the same number of disconnections or
a different number? You are right, two is twice as much as one.
Q. Do letters in the first name in K-2 sit on the base line but in the last
name rise above it? Right, first name sits on the base line, and last name
rises.
Q. In Q-34, do letters in both names fall below, rise above and sit on the
base line randomly? These letters do rise and fall randomly.
Q. Are those two patterns the same or different base line alignments? Quite
different. Thank you.
In doing this kind of impeachment, the attorney must practice great discipline, insisting on a direct factual answer to a direct factual question. Slick witnesses will entice the cross-examiner to chase after a new line of impeachment, which is really a trap. Never let the witness lead you.
If the opposing document examiner is wrong, I can compose such questions for you.