Do You Need an Original, or Can You Work From a Photocopy?

Attorney’s often need to hire a forensic document examiner  as an expert witness for him or her to opine in court that something is a forgery or not a forgery. The type of evidence in a common lawsuit can include a will, a codicil, a title, or anything document that helps the court figure out the truth of the agreements.  It happens all the time and has been happening for centuries. Many clients  think, “Oh my God, I don’t have an original. I’m going to lose this case.” That is not true.  Even in the cases of Last Will and Testaments… a copy of sometimes accepted by the court…. despite state laws requiring a wet signature and two witnesses.

Since I’ve been in this business for about 30 years, I have seen a shift in the type of documents that gets in front of a judge. When they started writing book on this topic…all they had was originals. In the 1980’s…. faxes were often used as evidence.  Photocopies are still common and used as evidence since the copy machine was invented.

There are not many faxes anymore that show up at trial. No one has a fax machine… but they do have PDF files and email attachments.

People have high resolution scanners, and they low resolution bad scanners. The real little known secrets is that deeds and titles end up being scanned at the courthouse in low resolution… and that’s all you have in a case.

So the general rule in at least the United States, in all 50 states, is the best evidence rule. So, whatever the best evidence we have, we can give a forensic opinion.

Now, is that forensic opinion going to be accepted by the court? Yes. An inconclusive opinion is still an opinion. An opinion of “yes, it probably is, more likely than not” is still an opinion. Now, the real question is, can you have an absolute opinion without an original? The answer is yes, in some cases. However, if you have originals, whether the known signatures or the questioned signature, we want to see them. Obviously, we want the best evidence.

I would say 50 to 60% of our cases end up creating a letter, maybe going to court, maybe not, based on some form of a photocopy because the document itself is 20 years old. I had a marriage certificate from Mexico, signed in 1956. Well, the original just didn’t exist, right? That’s a 50-year-old document. So, we had to make the best decision possible given the quality of the document.

So when you call your local office, your examiner, you talk to them and tell them what you have. Sometimes we’ll look at a case, and the resolution is so bad that the photocopy is almost indistinguishable. So if you can’t tell the ink, you can’t tell the letters, everything’s faded, you probably can’t even move forward with the case. And that would be one of those conversations you want to have before you invest the $5,000 to actually hire and retain and get a letter from a forensic document examiner.

So the answer is yes, you can do cases. Yes, the judge will allow it. Yes, you can win a case if you don’t have an original. But it’s always better to have more evidence of higher quality and more quantity.

My name is Bart Baggett. If you need my help or one of our handwriting experts around the country, visit handwritingexperts.com. We’ll set you up with someone local who can help you solve your million-dollar forgery case or if someone stole your pickup truck. We’ve handled it all over the last 30 years.

Bart Baggett
The Nation’s Leading Forensic Handwriting Expert
CEO of Handwriting Experts Inc.
Forensic Document Examiner • Expert Witness • Legal Consultant
“We solve million dollar forgery cases.”

Telephone: 1-800-980-9030

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