Lineup: The Reliability of Examinations Involving Multiple Writers

A 1999 United States District Court ruling suggested possible bias in one-on-one questioned to known suspect document examinations. The ruling was, in part, a result of document examination critic Mark Denbeaux’s assertion that an examination of the writing of several persons similar to a police “lineup” might produce a different opinion by the examiner. In contrast to the traditional police “lineup” of a few individuals, this study employed the writing of 1,000 “suspects.” Four examiners were provided a questioned document consisting of a “London Letter.” They were given the task of determining if the questioned author’s handwriting was among the 1,000 “London Letters” gathered from different writers. All four examiners, encompassing a wide range of experience, reached definitive correct conclusions.