Forensic Science Name: ______________________________________ Period: ______

The bank robber’s hold-up note; does it contain invisible impressions that indicate the address of the hideout? The suicide note found next to the deceased; was it actually written by a killer trying to cover up his crime? The will of a wealthy person; was it altered so a relative could receive a payout? The discipline of forensic document examination, often referred to as questioned documents, is frequently associated with white-collar crimes such as check fraud; however, in practice, this area of forensic science can be used in a wide array of cases from medical malpractice to art forgeries to homicides.

A. Document Analysisa. A questioned document is any _______________________,

________________________, typewriting, or other written mark whose ___________________ or authenticity is in dispute or uncertain.

i. This may include _________________, birth certificates, licenses, ___________________, titles, deeds,______________, contracts, _____________, ________________ tickets, suicide or _________________ notes, medical records, and receipts.

b. Document Analysis is the examination and ________________________ of questioned documents with ____________________ material.

c. Document experts will investigate handwriting, typewriting or computer printouts, commercial printing, and type of _________________ and ____________ used.

d. Like fingerprints, handwriting is _______________________ to each individual.i. Computer databases maintained by the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation

(FBI) contain handwriting samples from hundreds of thousands of writers. Comparisons of these databases have not identified two individuals who have the exact same combination of handwriting characteristics, adding support to the legitimacy of handwriting as a solid form of evidence.

e. In _______________, the U.S. Court of ____________________ decided that handwriting analysis does qualify as a form of ___________________ testimony. As a result, handwriting evidence is admissible in court as long as scientifically accepted guidelines are followed.

i. The Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document Examination (SWGDOC) develops and publishes _______________________ and guidelines for the field of forensic document examination. http://www.swgdoc.org/

B. The Experts a. Forensic document examiners, also often referred to as _____________________ document examiners,

are forensic scientists who are responsible for using a number of scientific processes and methods for examining documents—whether written, typed, or printed—related to a crime scene investigation.

b. They are handwriting experts, as well as experts in other areas of document examination, including machine printing processes; and obliterated, indented, and erased entries.

c. The Questioned Documents Unit ( __________ ) provides forensic support to the FBI and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies by conducting forensic examinations on evidence collected during an investigation.

i. Among the federal agencies with QD units are the:1. Federal Bureau of Investigations2. ___________________________ and _____________________ Enforcement3. US _________________________ ______________________4. US ________________ Crime Lab5. _________________________ ______________________Service (Forensic Laboratory)6. US Postal Inspection Service7. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

ii. A number of questioned document examiners also work through ___________________ investigative companies, although their work is generally geared more toward civil cases.

d. The unit actually performs 25 different types of exams—all without tainting or _____________________ evidence.

e. The unit also maintains extensive _________________________of bank robbery notes, anonymous letters, fake checks, and ink compositions.

i. ________________: Forensic Information System for Handwriting1. Maintained by the U.S. __________________ Service, this database enables document

examiners to scan and digitize text writings such as threatening correspondence.2. A document examiner scans and digitizes an extended body of handwriting, which is

then plotted as arithmetic and geometric values. Searches are made on images in the database, producing a list of probable “____________.” The questioned writings, along with the closest hits, are then submitted to the Document Examination Section for confirmation.

ii. International Ink Library 1. Maintained jointly by the U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service—includes

more than ______________ inks, dating from the _____________. 2. Every ________________, pen and ink manufacturers are asked to submit their new ink

formulations, which are chemically tested and added to the reference collection.f. Forensic document examiners may perform the following:

i. Examine documents for signs that they have been ____________________ or _______________ii. Compare signatures and handwriting through handwriting ___________________ to determine

the ______________________of documentsiii. Examine _____________________ documents and link them to specific machines or computers

(printing process examinations)iv. ___________________ the contents of documents that have been partially destroyed or alteredv. Compare fractured or cut-edge comparisons on a variety of surfaces, including paper and tape

vi. Examine incidents of ________________________ writingvii. Determine ________________ a document was produced

viii. Determine and distinguish ink discrimination, alterations, erasures, obliterations, and/or enhancements.

C. History:a. The crime of forgery has been practiced since ancient times in every country where writing existed and

paper was used for financial transactions.

b. Laws against forgery can be traced to _______________ when the ____________________ prohibited the falsification of documents that transferred land to heirs.

c. Forgery was prevalent in Europe in the Middle Ages. d. Gradually laws were passed to prohibit forgeries in every developed country, but it was difficult to

______________________ some of the highly skilled forgeries.e. In the US, a _____________________ _____________________ __________________ was enacted in

______________ which prohibited false making, forgery, or altering any writings for the purpose of ______________________ gain.

f. Albert Sherman _____________________ is considered the father of the science of questioned document examination in North America.

i. In the summer of 1882, he received a letter from the Rochester Business Institute, offering him a position as a _________________ of __________________________. It was from this early beginning as a teacher of handwriting that Mr. Osborn extended his interests to the identification of handwriting, typewriting, paper, ink, and to the many questions that arise concerning contested documents.

ii. In 1942, the __________________ (American Society of Questioned Document Examiners) was founded with Mr. Osborn as its first __________________________.

iii. He wrote several books, including Questioned Documents, The Problem of Proof, The Mind of the Juror and Questioned Document Problems, which master and codify the information necessary for identifying styles of handwriting and typescript, and for dating papers, inks, and writing instruments.

iv. Mr. Osborn's son, Albert D. Osborn, followed him into the practice of questioned document examination, as did his grandsons, Paul A. Osborn and Russell Osborn. Today, his great grandson, John P. Osborn, is Vice President of the ASQDE and continues the practice begun by his great grandfather.

g. In 1962, The _________________________ ____________ _________________________ developed the standard definition and elements related to the crime of _______________________.

h. Today there are a variety of training programs, certifications, and professional resources for Forensic Document Examiners.

i. ABFDE http://www.abfde.org/ 1. The ________________________ _________________of Forensic Document Examiners

offers certification for forensic document examiners who possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and have completed a full-time training period of at least two years. Candidates must be able to successfully complete comprehensive written, practical and oral examinations based on document examination.

ii. ASQDE http://www.asqde.org/ 1. The _________________________ _____________________

of Questioned Document Examiners, which is the world’s ____________________ and largest organization for forensic document examination professionals, offers membership to forensic document examiners who want opportunities for continuing education, professional recognition, and networking events. Candidates for membership must undergo testing before being promoted from a provisional membership to a regular membership.

D. Famous cases:a. _________________________ Baby

i. March 1, 1932- Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., __________-month-old _____________ of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was _________________________ from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home in New Jersey. A search of the premises was immediately made and a _____________________ note demanding $50,000 was found on the nursery window sill. The painstaking analysis of his handwriting by the emerging FBI Laboratory

would add to volumes of other evidence used to help convict Bruno Hauptmann of the historic murder. Handwriting analysis concluded that Hauptmann left a series of ________ ransom notes after snatching and later killing the Lindberghs’ 20-month-old son.

b. JonBenet _______________________ i. December 26, 1996- JonBenet Ramsey was a ______-year-old _______________ ____________

and the daught er of a socialite and a wealthy businessman in Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, called the police after finding a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her daughter's safe return. The girl's body, however, was discovered in their own _______________ later that afternoon. She had a skull fracture and had been sexually molested and strangled with a cord. Due to what some say were unforgivable errors by the Boulder Police Department, the case is still unsolved. This case was one of the most ___________________________ police investigations of the 1990s.

c. September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacksi. Seventeen forensic document examiners sifted through and analyzed _____________________

documents after the 9/11 attacks to help identify the ________________________. d. Kansas serial killer Dennis ____________________

i. Dennis Rader committed his first murders in 1974, killing four members of the Otero family in their home. _______________________ and taking souvenirs were part of his modus operandi, or ______________________ of behavior. He also left semen at the scene and later said that he derived sexual pleasure from killing. He placed a __________________ in a public library book in which he took responsibility for killing the Oteros which ended up in the local newspaper. He requested to be called the "____________ Strangler," which stands for ______________, ___________________, and _______________.

ii. Dennis Rader terrorized the Witchita, Kansas area from the 1970s to the 1990s as he claimed more victims. He continued to seek fame for his killings, writing letters and reporting his own crimes. He seemed to take pleasure from the cat-and-mouse game with authorities.

iii. His final crime was in 1991, but he resurfaced in 2004 as many news stories marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Otero murders and he again sought media attention. Rader sent local media outlets and authorities more letters, this time filled with items related to his crimes, including pictures of one of the victims, a word puzzle, and an outline for the "BTK Story." During 2004 and 2005, he also left packages with more clues, including a ___________________ _________. That disk helped lead authorities to Rader's church, which eventually led to his arrest. He pled guilty and was ordered to serve 10 life sentences in prison.

E. Handwritinga. A key element of document examination focuses on handwriting, which includes hand printing and

signatures.b. Despite minor variations due to type of writing __________________________, _______________, age

or stress, everyone’s handwriting has their own unique ___________________. c. Major factors influencing handwriting:

i. ______________ of fingers, hands, armsii. ___________________________ makeup

iii. __________________________________iv. Style and personality

d. Handwriting examination and comparison is based on three main principles:i. Given a sufficient amount of handwriting, no two skilled writers exhibit

________________________ handwriting features.ii. Every person has a _______________ of natural ______________________ to his or her writing.

1. No one writes with _________________-like ______________________ every time, and variations are evident in a person’s handwriting even within the same document. For example, if a person writes an entire page of signatures, each one will ______________ ______________________. A trained forensic document examiner can discriminate

between natural variations in a writer’s own handwriting and significant differences denoting different _________________________.

iii. No writer can exceed his or her ________________ level (for example, it would not be possible for a person who has only learned to produce very basic hand-printed letters to execute perfectly formed, highly skilled cursive writing).

e. Experts examine 12 major characteristics of handwriting:i. _________________ Quality- Do the letters flow or are they erratic and shaky?

ii. ______________________- Are the letters equally spaced or crowded?iii. _________________ Consistency- Is the ratio of height to width consistent or inconsistent?iv. Continuous- Is the writing continuous or does the writer lift the pen?v. _______________________ Letters- Are capital and lowercase letter connected and continuous

or not?vi. Lettering Complete- Are the letters formed completely or are parts missing?

vii. ____________________ and Printed Letters- Are the letters printed, written in cursive, or both?viii. Pen ________________________- Is the pressure equal or unequal when applied to upward and

downward strokes?ix. _________________- Is there a slant? Is it left, right, or variable?

x. _________________ Habits- Is the text on, above, or below the line?xi. _________________ Curls or Loops- Are there fancy curls or loops on any of the letters?

xii. Placement of _________________ on t’s and _______________ on i’s- Is the placement correct? Are t’s crossed high, low, or middle? Are the dots on the i to the left, right, or centered?

f. Experts can also look at formatting, such as the _________________ a writer leaves empty on the page.

F. Handwriting Analysisa. In order to analyze handwriting, a forensic expert also needs an ________________________, which is a

known sample of the suspect’s writing, which can be compared to the questioned document.i. There are two types of exemplars:

1. Collected writing specimens: writings that were completed by the subject __________________ _______ the investigation.

a. These might include letters, _____________________, _________________, personal notes, cancelled checks, signed receipts, tax records, or other signed legal documents.

2. _________________________ writing specimens: writings _______________________ by the investigator to the writer.

a. These are used primarily when collected writing specimens are not readily ______________________ and the suspect is asked to write a sample under carefully controlled conditions, with the writer being closely monitored.

b. It is best not to inform the suspect of the ________________________ of comparison.

ii. The investigator should obtain known writing samples that are ____________________ in ________________________ to the document in question.

1. If it is written in __________________, it should be compared to known cursive writing.

2. If it contains upper and lowercase letters, the known writings must also contain upper and lowercase letters.

3. Wherever possible, the investigator should also obtain known writing containing similar combinations of letters and numbers seen in the questioned documents.

4. For comparison purposes, it is recommended that investigators obtain ______–_____ repetitions of signatures, ______–______ repetitions of bank checks, 3–4 repetitions of entire written letters.

iii. The investigator should also attempt to obtain known writing that is prepared around the same _______________ period as the questioned writing.

1. This is particularly important in cases involving writing from _______________ people (up to mid-teens), as writing formation may still be at a __________________________ stage, and by _______________ persons, as writing may deteriorate with age or illness.

b. The expert will examine the questionable document for detectable ______________________ and record them.

c. Finally, the expert will compare and draw conclusions about the authorship of the questionable document.

i. If a sufficient amount of evidence is submitted, an examiner will reach a conclusion that may range from _____________________ (a definitive determination of authorship or source) to _________________________ (a definitive determination of non-authorship or from another source).

1. Two writings came from one person if their similarities are ________________________ and no __________________________________ differences are found.

ii. If no determination can be made based on the evidence, the examiner will issue an ____________________________ result.

iii. Most laboratories also permit a broader range of conclusions, called _____________________ conclusions, that fall somewhere ____ _____________________ the definitive conclusions of identification or elimination.

iv. Many practitioners also choose to provide a defining description of the results of their examination. For instance, for a handwriting exam, identification may be phrased, “The evidence very strongly supports the proposition that the questioned writing was written by the writer of the specimens.”

G. Tools Used for Handwriting Analysisa. A typical Questioned Documents Unit in a crime laboratory is equipped with microscopes, digital

imaging instrumentation, infrared and ultraviolet light sources, video analysis tools and specialized equipment including electrostatic detection devices (EDD) and materials to perform analytical chemistry.

b. Initial comparisons are done with the naked eye, a handheld ____________, an illuminated magnifier, or ___________________________.

c. Later, _____________________ spectroscopes may be used to determine if more than one type of _______________ was used, based on ___________________________ of light absorbed and reflected by each type of ink.

d. Many forensic document examiners use only __________-_______________________ techniques that use light and/or electrostatic detection to examine documents for indented impression evidence or ink differentiation.

i. _______________________ _______________________ Device (EDD)- Revealing text from indented ______________________________

1. An Electrostatic Detection Apparatus (ESDA) uses the principle that indented areas of a document carry less ___________________ ________________ than surrounding areas. This causes the toner used in the EDD to be attracted to these areas, revealing indentations that are present.

2. Using this technique, indented impressions have been recovered from up to ____ layers of paper beneath the original writings. Research has demonstrated that impressions can

be successfully visualized from documents up to 60 years old, provided the papers are not mishandled or stored improperly.

ii. Video Spectral Comparator (VSC)- Detecting alterations, obliterations, erasures and page substitutions.

1. Alterations, obliterations and erasures not visible to the human eye can often be detected through use of photography and other imaging devices that utilize _______________________ and _____________________ wavelengths of light.

2. Using radiation filtered at various wavelengths, an imaging instrument such as a video spectral comparator (VSC) can reveal writing that has been _______________ with a different ____________, or has been altered or removed by exploiting variations in the way different inks respond to different wavelengths of light.

iii. _________________________________- Determining individual dye components

1. Chromatography is a family of techniques used for ______________________ ___________________. It involves a small cutting from the questioned document being dissolved in a solvent then analyzed. This is one of the few ________________________ techniques employed by the document examiner. The inks can be compared to the ___________________________ ________ Library, a database maintained by the U.S. Secret Service that contains data on more than 9,500 inks that have been manufactured since 1920.

2. Because of their destructive nature, these types of examinations may be sent off to laboratories that specialize in this type of ink analysis.

e. For analyses of documents created by print machines, examiners may rely on various databases created for comparison purposes.

i. Documents created on a typewriter or printed with ink jet, laser printers, fax machines and photocopiers may be sourced to a particular make or model, or even to a specific machine.

ii. When possible, the examiner should obtain __________________ ____________________ and any available accessories from the machine in question and the machine itself should be ________________________ for examination.

f. During handwriting analyses, examiners compare samples provided from particular populations. i. Certain agencies, such as the U.S. Secret Service and the German Federal Police, maintain larger

databases. For example, the Forensic Information System for Handwriting ( _______________ ) maintained by the U.S. Secret Service Forensic Laboratory contains handwriting samples from tens of thousands of writers.

g. Technology can also assist experts in analysisi. Signature recognition research in the 1970s focused on the use

of static or _______________________ characteristics (what the signature looks like) .

ii. Today’s machines with touch sensitive technologies allow ____________________ characteristics (how the signature was made).

iii. __________________________ Signature Pads are programmed to evaluated the _________________, pressure, and rhythm of a person’s signature and are able to recognize how a person writes so that it can easily ___________________ differences and recognize forgeries.

iv. Behavioral biometrics such as signature pressure profiles are a growing focus for the ________________________ and biometrics community.

H. Limitations of Forensic Document Examinationa. Non-original evidence (such as ________________________ or _________________)

i. Every time a document is subjected to a copying process, a small amount of information is ________________.

b. Insufficient _______________________ of questioned material.i. If there is not enough material for an adequate examination, the examiner will most likely be

unable to render a definitive conclusion.c. Insufficient _______________________

i. If the quality of either the questioned document or the known samples is not sufficient for proper examination, the examiner will likely be unable to render a definitive conclusion.

ii. Examples include documents that have been ________________ to ashes or _____________________ shredded, documents that are multi-generation copies or faxes, or documents containing writing that is too distorted or disguised.

1. A cross-cut method of shredder keeps documents safer from identity theft than regular strip cutting. The Cross-Cut type or smaller are best for confidential documents and prevent you from _____________________ the bin as often.

d. Lack of comparability between the questioned documents and the known samples.i. The examiner must be able to compare “________________ to _______________” as the saying

goes. For instance, the specimen material must be of the same type of writing as the questioned material; uppercase entries can only be compared to uppercase, and cursive writing can only be compared to cursive writing.

e. _____________________ or ____________________ writingi. The writing on the questioned document or the known sample may be too distorted or

disguised. For example, _____________________ on a wall may be considered distorted and cannot be compared to a suspect’s normal handwriting.

f. _______________________ i. Forensic document examiners do ___________ make any determination of the psychological

state or _______________________ of a suspect from their handwriting. 1. Graphology is the _______________-science involved in producing a personality

___________________ of the writer by examining the characteristics, traits and strokes of an individual's handwriting. This is a controversial practice conducted by a handwriting analyst called graphologist that is not usually associated with the practice of forensic document examination.

2. For example: “People who write letters close together are intrusive and crowd others”. “Illegible signatures mean a person is private and difficult to understand” and “People with small handwriting tend to be shy, studious and meticulous, whereas outgoing people who love attention will have larger handwriting”. Can these claims be scientifically proven?

I. Forgerya. Forgery is a process used by criminals to make, alter, or

_____________________ a person’s signature or a document with the intent to ____________________ another person.

b. When a material gain accompanies a forgery, it is called __________________________________.

c. In cases of forgery, a document expert will determine whether the document is forged, then a _______________ or _________________ will determine if the writer’s ___________________ was to defraud.

d. Commonly forged documents:i. ______________________ fraud- It is estimated that 27 _________________ dollars in

illegitimate checks are cashed daily.1. Criminals will ________________________ someone else’s checks from a deposit slip,

_________________ checks, intercept someone else’s check to alter and cash, and can even create forged checks from scratch.

2. Gatherings of a _________________ numbers of people are ideal for the passing of fraudulent checks and counterfeit money.

a. It has been estimated that at the Atlanta, XXVI Olympic Games in 1996, there were over $4 million fraudulent travelers checks alone, not to mention the printing of phony tickets for events.

ii. Credit card fraud1. Can include theft of _______________ or ______________________

iii. Identity fraud1. Social Security cards and numbers, driver’s license, birth certificate, etc.

iv. Art forgery 1. Art forgery is the creating and selling of works of art which are falsely credited to other,

usually more famous, artists. 2. Art forgery can be extremely _________________________, but modern dating and

analysis techniques have made the identification of forged artwork much simpler.3. The most faked artist in history is a French landscape painter, Jean-Baptiste-Camille

_________________ (1796–1875). In 1957 the Guardian in London noted that “Corot painted 5,000 works, of which 10,000 were in the United States”.

v. Sports memorabilia fraud1. Sports memorabilia is a $1 billion dollar per year industry and that explains why the

fraudsters are interested in it; there is money to be made. The growth of the Internet and online ___________________ sites make it easy to find and buy autographed sports memorabilia.

2. In general, the more _______________________ the player is, the more fakes and forgeries there are.

3. The FBI has estimated that anywhere between _______ and _______ percent of all autographed sports memorabilia in the marketplace today is bogus. This statistic was recently collaborated on a 60 Minutes Sports segment in which Brandon Steiner, CEO and founder of Steiner Sports said that, in his estimation, collectors have a 35 percent chance of purchasing an authentic piece of autographed sports memorabilia online.

vi. ________________________ document fraud 1. Include letters from ________________________ world

figures, scientists, and authors 2. Quality literary forgeries aim to duplicate the

______________________ found in the originala. ________________ paper can be found in old books

b. Materials can also be chemically treated to look olderc. Inks from materials at that timed. ________________________ to add the appearance of agee. Use of ___________________ and __________________ that were popular at

the timee. Types of Forgery

i. ________________________- written with no knowledge of the appearance of the original; usually someone just writing and trying to pass it off as something else

ii. ________________________- attempt to copy a signature or handwriting sample from a genuine article by trying to imitate the handwriting of the original

iii. ________________________- placing a new document over the original and tracing itiv. ________________________ writing- Attempting to _________________ writing so it cannot be

traced back (Ex. Ransom note or threat)

v. ________________________- Removing, adding, or changing a portion of the original.

1. Four ways to alter:a. ____________________________

i. Using an ____________________, knife, _________________________, or sharp tool to erase part of a document

b. ____________________________i. Burning, ________________________, or using a __________________

to get rid of a documentc. ____________________________

i. Adding or changing words, dates, and numbersd. ____________________________

i. Overwrites a portion of the document, for example changing a ______ to a _______

J. Counterfeita. Counterfeiting is the production of an _______________________ of _________________________,

__________________________, documents, and _____________ - _________________ knock-off items for the purpose of deception.

b. Common counterfeited items include currency, traveler’s checks, ________________ stamps, bonds, __________________ stamps, and _________________ certificates.

c. Counterfeit Currencyi. Counterfeiting money is one of the ___________________

crimes. Following the Civil War, it was estimated that 1/3 to 1/2 of the currency in circulation was counterfeit.

ii. The ___________________ ______________________was established in 1865 to suppress counterfeiting. It is in charge of investigating counterfeit US currency, a crime that is punishable with up to ________ years in prison.

1. In 1901, the Secret Service was tasked to _________________________ the President.iii. In 1996 the government started adding new security features to paper currency that

__________________________ cannot reproduce.

iv. Subtle background ______________ and other security features such as small nylon threads and plastic ____________________ ______________ have been added to discourage counterfeiting.

v. Regular printer paper contains __________________________; Paper currency contains rag __________________________ instead of starch.

1. Not only does counterfeit paper often ___________________ different, but it can easily be tested with an ________________________ pen that turns ____________________-____________________ when in contact with starch in the counterfeit paper.

2. However some criminals will _______________________ $1 bills and print higher values on them to beat this test so the government has added additional security features, including security thread, special fibers woven throughout, watermarks, and special designs that are hard to replicate.

Who is on our Currency?

$1 George Washington1st U.S. President The Great Seal of the United States

$2 Thomas Jefferson3rd U.S. President

Signing of the Declaration of Independenceor Monticello

$5 Abraham Lincoln16th U.S. President Lincoln Memorial

$10 Alexander Hamilton1st U.S. Treasury Secretary U.S. Treasury

$20 Andrew Jackson7th U.S. President The White House

$50 Ulysses S. Grant18th U.S. President U.S. Capitol

$100 Benjamin Franklin Independence Hall

Activity: Copy the following sentence and numbers in the space below and look for unique characteristics in your handwriting.

Copy: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 1234567890

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copy it again to check for consistency: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 1234567890

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you know why this sentence is used?

Compare, contrast, and discuss your handwriting sample with a classmate. Look at each of the 12 major characteristics of handwriting and answer the following questions.

Line Quality- Do the letters flow or are they erratic and shaky?

Spacing- Are the letters equally spaced or crowded?

Size Consistency- Is the ratio of height to width consistent or inconsistent?

Continuous- Is the writing continuous or does the writer lift the pen?

Connecting Letters- Are capital and lowercase letter connected and continuous or not?

Lettering Complete- Are the letters formed completely or are parts missing?

Cursive and Printed Letters- Are the letters printed, written in cursive, or both?

Pen Pressure- Is the pressure equal or unequal when applied to upward and downward strokes?

Slant- Is there a slant? Is it left, right, or variable?

Line Habits- Is the text on, above, or below the line?

Fancy Curls or Loops- Are there fancy curls or loops on any of the letters?

Placement of crosses on t’s and dots on i’s- Is the placement correct? Are t’s crossed high, low, or middle? Are the dots on the i to the left, right, or centered?