262
DEREK DAVIS
Hong Kong Commission.
PAGE
Report 750809
to
indicate the natural,
offer information as
time of factors prevailing at
writing any item,
item, by comparison with known specimens of
the same person's handwriting.
formal, or unnatural style used
and
the
When disguise is used to corrupt a person's own writing or to imitate another's, it is possible to offer an opinion that the personal habits differ or are the same, therefore it is or is not of common authorship with specimens provided.
a
If
person copies another's writing, however proficiently, he will not include the least obvious habits of the imitated handwriting because they are not normally noticeable to the
layman.
If, which is rare, the writer has managed to find some of the personal habits, it is then necessary to reproduce them at similar speed, fluency and pressure; at the same time
imitating the structure, spacing and design of the
handwriting with its overall composition.
If a writer attempts to imitate the pictorial effect, design
and movements only, the imitation will always fail by
omission of the identifiable habits.
As an example, in order to imitate a small elipse exactly in
relative dimension, speed, pressure and fluency, it is not
practical to move onto the next movement without hesitation,
disjointing the fluency or moving in the wrong direction.
It is, of course, possible
to reproduce occasionally by
accident or coincidence of
areas in certain movements.
similar
personal habit, some
Continued