Can the handwriting expert be wrong?

Well obviously, it depends on the expert. But obviously, when you have expert witnesses in court trials… the reason they have a trial and the reason the questions from the attorney speak to the credibility of the witness is because any witness can be wrong.

And even studies show that people that are lay witnesses—six people see a car crash, so there’s six different versions of what happened.

So, all witnesses can be wrong. And that’s why you have to hire a witness that has a lot of experience on the stand because you don’t want them to be wrong… and you sure don’t want them to look wrong in court.

But let me get to the root of the question

If you hire a forensic document examiner—a court qualified person that’s been to court a hundred times, that has all the right training—they’re going to get the right answer.

I’m in the car now going to San Diego to look at an original will and testament. I’m going to get a microscope. I’m going to get some photographs. I’m going to get some 2400-point dots-per-inch scans.

I will have all the evidence I need to decide if that signature was written by the decedent or not.

And I will be right.

And when another expert reads my report (if he’s qualified or she’s qualified) she’ll agree with me and say, “You know what, Mr. Baggett was correct.”

I think that’s the truth.

Now you move on to other parts of the case.

Most handwriting experts will get the right opinion—if the evidence is there

So, most handwriting experts—given the quantity of evidence and the quality of evidence—they will get the right opinion as to the authorship.

Now the handwriting expert is only one piece of it.

In wills and testament cases, the document itself matters too

In the will and testament issues, it also may have to do with the quality of the paper… when the paper was manufactured… if something’s been swapped out… if the staple holes are the same, etc.

So just because the last page is the decedent’s handwriting or signature doesn’t mean that someone didn’t swap out page four or five and six, and yet the trust then must be contested.

That would be called an altered document.

So what’s the answer?

So, the answer is yes—the handwriting expert would be wrong… especially if they’re not well trained or they’re new.

So, hire the best that you can afford.

Make sure that they’re qualified.

Make sure that they have already passed voir dire, and a judge—or 100 judges—have said, “This guy’s qualified. This guy has integrity. I think this guy’s going to tell the truth about the outcome of this signature.”

The question we answer

The question that we handle most as forensic handwriting experts is:

Did this human being that you think you know… did they write this name?

Did they sign their name—or did someone else sign it in an attempt to do some fraud?

That’s the answer.

That’s the question we answer.

And that’s why you hire a court qualified handwriting expert.