EXPERT EVIDENCE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 195, 13 May 1919, Page 7

EXPERT EVIDENCE

. lELL-TALE TWISTS IN HANDWRITING AN INTERESTING RECORD Recognised throughout the . Commonwealth as an expert whoso opinion '. on handwriting-he is careful- always to. say '■in my opinion"—is valued above' all others, Mr. 'Edward Shew, formerly a member of the staff of the Bank of Australia, has an interesting' record. Since 1880 Mr.. Shew has been ■ . after to examine disputed or incriminating documents... His "stock-in-trade may be' said to consist of a* .powerful magnifying-glass,- boundless patience, and 'reniurknbly keen vision. It is an interesting commentary .on his skill to recall that his father; the late Mr. Edward Moss Show,, was a. professor of perspective and drawing- under the' oldEducation Board of Victoria, and always emphasised tho need to educate'the eye. Complementary to keenness of vision which Mr, Shew'retaiiis at the age.of 70 '.is .an exceptional gift of. .penmanship, enables, him to.reproduce, with surprising exactness,'words or figures which he has-selected from a.document, for' the purpose of comparison. Having' arranged the character side bv side, Mr: Shew, brings'the magnifying-glass to bearupdn them, and : invariably he'finds some minute detail or, peculiarity which would 1 escape the unpractised eye. Evon where. « forger has gone to the utmost pains to disguise his'writing,-Mr. Shew has detected some twist or accentuation com-' rridrt fb the genuine-'aiid disguised'speci- ' rttens:' It is a case of habit having prevailed ' over ■'intent-• The crossing of a '%'.'■ the loop of "h," "l,""or"b." the conjoining of "th," "rd," "st" (especially in ; -letter-, dating). ■ the disconnection of letters in-a word, or'the connection of • several-words without tha pen having been raised—these are but -ft., few of tlvn. proofs which seldom'fail. Sometimes it is necessary to' photograph and' enlarge; many times passages fro'ni a" document to observe points of similarity. • The - degree of habitual pressure of-the, pen is then'" revealed, and- from ■ down-strokes especially reliable conclusions may be /made. Promiscuous vet- "absent-minded dotting (or "mis-dotting") of-' characters has more' than once identified the responsible nc.rson. So' re.vuirceful is Mr. _ Shew that -in one perplexing ensp in ; ,\ which three persons were susnected of having written' an objectionable nnmijmous letter, he secured ft' useful: lead in has investigations by uotinc' the average fmrnber of times each of Hip suspected uersons dotted the letter "i.".' : ' The- most recant appearance of Mr. Shew "as a witness .'in a criminal'trial waff : when he- gave . material 'eviterial evidence against two clerks of.the' State Savings Bank who had defrauded the bank by foTged entrips in the kd"°r in favour of a confederate outside. The first.'admission'df guilt came■■from-one of the accused, whose'habit of giving a twist to the hook of the figure "5" had been detected by the expert. Another State Savings Bank case in which. Mr. Shew did .valuable work concerned a ' •■■■ young man whose real signature- was 'essential to the proof of the charge of fraud against him. One section of it v.as found on the cover of a writing block, where apparently'it. hnd been, "blotted" absent-mindedly! Another fragment was detected on a blotting-pad. The two'reproduced and pieced together removed.all doubt. •- In the suppression of frauds -under the Maternity Bonus Act some years ago, Mr. Shew achieved remarkablesuccess. The examination of more than 100 certificates was necessary, and photographic 'enlargements ivere made.of many of them.' The presiding Judge at the trial remarked that the- case had been a. triumph for the expert, whose evidence ' had not been, challenged. In the Deem- ' ihg case, too, he .gave important proofs from a number of documents associating j Deemin? with the many aliases which he assumed. Perhaps the most remarkable case in . which Mr. Shew has figured—this time'in the background—-related to the forging of a will.in' another State'. Soon after the ■'. proof of tho testator's real will another was produced which substantially varied' the original distribution of the estate. The second will was admitted, and its fulfilment was nearing completion when the solicitors for the estate were apjiro'aohed. by' it ;nian "who said' that'he had prepared the second will,.which was a forgery. He' was regarded as first as a crank, but his persistence at last prompted an investigation of the story. The difficulty then arose that corroboration of the allegation ■ was neceesaiy. Against the statement of one man could be brought the evidence of several witnesses to the forged will,, and the supposed signature of the testator to it appeared th be beyond doubt. Mr. Shew, on account of the distance from his home, declined to undertake the investigation ■of the documents on the 6pot, but agreed to give his opinion on photographed ■; copies. His initial difficulty 'was that , of six specimen signatures of the testator no two were alike; Some were splendid { samples of penmanship; others, obviously .written in haste or at a time of bad health, offered littlo help in solving the problem.. However, al! were reproduced by Mr. Shew on a large sheet of paper, and-'alongside them he placed the forged signature. Thero was a slight variation from the customary terminal,- but it was not convincing. The magnifying-glass, however, revealed the absolute proof. In all the genuine signatures the top of the letter "J?" was disjointed;..vet seemingly 'united,, by a small final tail. In the forged signature the "F". had been made in-one operation, and the tail hnd been inserted afterwards. The informer in the

case turned King's evidence,. and illustrated 'in Court now, by placing against a window a letter written by the testator, he had copied the signature- on to the will. .