Admissibility Issues in Forensic Document Examination

The admissibility of forensic document examination has, on occasion, been challenged in courts across the United States. This paper reviews the requirements and guidelines under U.S. Supreme Court decisions of recent years as related to Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and compares them to studies, research, methodologies, testing, and publications within the discipline of forensic document examination that relate to these guidelines, and outlines how forensic document examination meets and exceeds each of these guidelines. In addition, this paper reviews statements made by critics in testimony and nonpeer reviewed articles concerning forensic document examination as it relates to admissibility issues. These statements are compared with the raw data on which many of the statements were based. Many of the critics’ conclusions were inaccurate.