Our handwriting expertise is often called upon to help credit or discredit evidence as part of a court case. Through the use of specialist techniques and with our years of experience, we are able to help determine whether a document was written by the supposed author, or whether two documents were written or signed by the same person. If you are a solicitor looking for a handwriting expert to help in your case, here is a brief outline of some of the appeal cases we have been involved with and what techniques were used.
Using Electrostatic Deposition Analysis (ESDA)
This is a particularly valuable technique which has previously shown its worth by being used to throw doubt on the authenticity of alleged confessions in the cases of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, which helped to lead to acquittals.
This test is part of our suite of examination techniques and is used to compare the indentations on a sheet of paper with whatever was written on the preceding sheet. The aim of this test is to identify any discrepancies which may indicate that changes have been made to the top sheet at a later time.
Using a handwriting expert to help quash a conviction
Handwriting analysis techniques including ESDA were used in a case at the Court of Appeal in 2020, where the judge upheld that notes from police interviews where Kevin Artt confessed to killing Maze Prison Deputy Governor Albert Miles were re-written.
As these notes were the only evidence against the appellant, they were not considered to be safe. ESDA techniques were carried out on the handwritten interview notes, which contained Mr Artt’s admissions, and our handwriting experts concluded that some of the police notes were not written at the same time. This cast doubt on the credibility of evidence and the conviction was quashed.
Our forensic handwriting experts have also been involved in cases where an appeal was upheld, such as the case of Peter Tredget. Mr Tredget originally pleaded guilty to 11 counts of arson and 23 counts of manslaughter based on diminished responsibility, but the main evidence relied upon by the prosecution was his own confessions. The case was referred to the Court of Appeal based on new evidence, including ESDA testing from our handwriting experts, which undermined the credibility of these confessions. In a previous appeal, some of his convictions had been quashed, but in this case, the court rejected the appeal.
For more information on how our handwriting experts can help in your cases, please contact Cosslett and Barr on 0121 796 5355 or click here to view our full suite of practice areas.