Thinking Outside the Box

To prevent the possibility of any bias developing, many forensic document examiners are taught that they should get as little background information on a case as possible. In some cases, the lack of background information can be both misleading and detrimental to discovering the truth. This paper describes a case history in which background information on a medical record was necessary to resolve the case. The information was obtained after all examinations had been completed. However, if known beforehand, the information may have saved both valuable time and resources. Giving an opinion is easy; finding the truth may be much more difficult.