Sequence Evidence
Definition
In ESDA casework, the determination of the relative order in which pages in a notepad were written, based on which impressions appear on which sheets; used to identify page insertion or the temporal inconsistency of disputed interview records.
- Field
- ESDA document examination
- Determines
- Relative order pages in a notepad were written
- Basis
- Which impressions appear on which sheets
- Use case
- Identifying page insertion or interview record inconsistency
- Related instrument
- Electrostatic Detection Apparatus
Common questions
How can ESDA impressions reveal that a page was inserted out of order?+
If a page shows indented impressions from writing that appears on a later page but is missing impressions expected from the page that should precede it in the pad, that mismatch suggests the sheet was inserted or substituted rather than being an original, sequentially written page.
Why is sequence evidence particularly important for disputed police interview notes?+
It can expose whether notes claimed to be contemporaneous were actually written afterward and slipped into an earlier position in the pad, which has been central to real wrongful-conviction cases where fabricated or altered interview records were later exposed through ESDA analysis.
Can sequence evidence be produced from a single sheet of paper alone?+
No, sequence analysis inherently requires comparing indented impressions across multiple sheets from the same pad or block, since it is the pattern of which writing bled through onto which underlying pages that establishes their relative order.
Related terms
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- Birmingham Six
- Six men wrongly convicted in 1975 of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings; their convictions were quashed in 1991 partly on the basis...
- Corona Wire
- A high-voltage wire in the ESDA instrument that deposits electrostatic charge uniformly over the Mylar surface; charge density is higher at points...
- ESDA (Electrostatic Detection Apparatus)
- A non-destructive technique for detecting indented impressions on paper caused by writing pressure. A physical ink signature on paper produces detectable ESDA...
- ESDA Lift
- The permanent transparent Mylar sheet carrying the toner-developed image of the indented writing, produced by ESDA processing; suitable for court exhibition and...
- Foster+Freeman ESDA 2
- The current-generation commercial ESDA instrument (Foster+Freeman Ltd, Worcestershire, UK), used by the FBI Laboratory, DSTL (UK), Australian Federal Police, CFSL (India), and...
- Indented Writing
- Latent impressions produced in paper sheets beneath the writing sheet by the pressure of the pen tip; invisible under normal illumination but...
- Mylar Film
- A thin (approximately 6 micrometre) polyester film stretched over the document under vacuum in the ESDA process; it conforms to the document...
- PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984)
- UK legislation governing police investigative powers, including the code of practice requiring audio (and later video) recording of police interviews, a reform...