Request Writings
Definition
Handwriting exemplars produced by the person of interest specifically for comparison purposes, under conditions controlled by the investigator or examiner; also called requested exemplars, dictated exemplars, or standards.
- Domain
- Forensic document examination
- Also called
- Requested or dictated exemplars
- Source
- Person of interest, on request
- Contrast
- Course-of-business writings
Common questions
Why are request writings treated with more caution than course-of-business writings?+
Because the writer knows the exemplar will be compared, they may consciously or unconsciously alter their natural handwriting, so examiners watch for signs of disguise and collect multiple samples over time.
How does an examiner typically obtain request writings?+
The subject writes dictated text, sometimes repeated at intervals or on different days, under conditions the examiner controls such as pen and paper, to capture natural variation rather than one rehearsed sample.
Related terms
- Character Inventory
- The pre-collection analysis of the questioned document to identify all letters, numerals, and special characters it contains, which then governs the comparable-text...
- Comparable Text
- The requirement that the exemplar set contains multiple repetitions of each letter, numeral, and character type that appears in the questioned document,...
- Contemporaneity
- The requirement that the exemplar set includes writings produced at approximately the same time as the questioned document, to avoid comparing writing...
- Course-of-Business Writings
- Handwriting exemplars collected from writings the subject produced in the normal course of their life, before the case arose, without knowledge that...
- Gilbert V. California (1967)
- US Supreme Court decision holding that compelled handwriting exemplars do not constitute testimonial self-incrimination protected by the Fifth Amendment, because handwriting is...
- Natural Variation
- The normal within-writer fluctuation in individual features across repetitions of the same letter or writing task; an examiner assesses whether questioned-writing variation...
- PACE 1984 s.61A
- The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provision (inserted by the Criminal Justice Act 2003) allowing a UK constable to compel a...
- Section 73 IEA / BSA 2023
- The Indian Evidence Act 1872 provision (carried forward into the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023) empowering a court to direct any person to...
- Sufficient Quantity
- The requirement that the exemplar set contains enough repetitions of each significant individual characteristic to allow the examiner to establish the writer's...