Room #1

General chit chat with fellow examiners. No moderator.

Room #2

Tough trial questions.
If you have been asked trial questions and would like options on how to answer such questions; bring them to this breakout room.

Document examiners discuss if handwriting identification is an art, a skill, or a science. This lecture will provide the principles of handwriting identification that support and prove that handwriting identification is a science. Science on any subject includes a body of rules to be followed and handwriting analysts follow these rules to solve cases.

As experienced examiners, we are aware that many people sign with just a scribble.

Does this make our jobs easier or harder? I believe after many years of examining we may sometimes skip the basic principles of examining, as our trained eyes go to the obvious inconsistencies.

I believe while the illegible signature can be challenging it brings us back to the fundamental principles of examination: movement and form.

I will demonstrate some of the cases from both the Caribbean and the US, and also a recent case for group study. As we have been immobile for almost two years let's island hop through the movement of illegible signatures.

This presentation is an excerpt from my new book Whose signature is it Anyway? Complexities of Caribbean Fraud"to be released 21.8.21.

This presentation will provide an overview of authenticating various digital files. In particular, we will explore ways in which some file metadata, including timestamps and authorship, can be spoofed, while other metadata can be used to authenticate documents. We will talk about methods used to link digital documents to the original owner or computer. You will also discover how to authenticate emails so that they are admissible in court. We will also discuss relevant case law related to the admissibility of digital documents.

Meat and Potatoes of Topic: More and more forensic sciences are getting TV exposure on every channel! The secret of how a crime is detected is no longer a secret. As with all knowledge, it can be used for good or evil. Those who would benefit from inside knowledge have paid attention to our techniques for determining a signature genuine or forged, disguised or manipulated, or even one imitating an infirmed patient or person close to death. And, paying attention is paying off pretty well. In this presentation will be false documents that have been presented as knowns, including a passport and other government identification documents, pages from a handwritten journal, original "course of business" correspondence, employment documents from employer, and 17 recorded warranty deeds from the county courthouse. This is just a sampling in the last 5 months!

Room #1

General chit chat with fellow examiners. No moderator.

Room #2

Discussion about billing structure and acceptable fees.
If you have questions about your billing and fees or you have insight and suggestions for others, join this open discussion

It is becoming prevalent for signed documents to exist in an electronic format. The resulting degradation caused by file compression can make signature authenticity much more challenging. This lecture dives into what occurs when wet signatures are scanned into a PDF, how to decipher the meaning behind scanner effects (e.g. color shifts and noise artifacts), and how to detect document manipulations. In-lecture examples will include these topics and much more.

Exhibits as demonstrative evidence in any document examination case are vital. The old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" is appropriate whether writing a report or going to trial. This lecture will inspire and help you in creating report and courtroom graphics that accurately and easily demonstrate your case.

More information to come.

Room #1

General chit chat with fellow examiners. No moderator.

Room #2

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More information to come.

Forensic science is more than "science applied to justice," more than a collection of methods applied to criminal investigations. Forensic science is the study of the relationship between people, places, and things involved in past criminal activity and it aims to reconstruct those events. With a philosophy and mindset unique to the discipline, forensic science nevertheless shares many of its fundamental principles with other historical sciences, like geology and archaeology. The "forensic mindset" is a very old, very human set of activities that have been honed by science. This talk discusses the underlying principles of how forensic science works and how its methods are linked to some of the earliest forms of human thinking and how it "makes the absent present" by reconstructing past criminal events.

More information to come.

More information to come.

Expert witnesses are necessary in a courtroom to establish testimony of specialized knowledge that a layperson cannot establish. One of the most important aspects of working with an expert witness in litigation is making sure that your expert gets properly qualified to testify in court through the voir dire process. This presentation will jumpstart your expert qualification process with tips and helpful ways to communicate with your attorney to assist in the qualifying process.