The Forensic Document Examination (FDE) discipline formerly known as Questioned Documents (QD) has been a service offered at the Crime Laboratory since the early 1940’s.
Forensic Document Examination involves scientific examinations, comparisons, and analyses of documents in order to determine origin, authenticity and authorship. Document evidence can be included in a variety of crimes such as threatening correspondence, homicide, questioned death, tampering with government documents, counterfeiting, forgery, and theft.
Due to the non-destructive nature of FDE examinations, document evidence should always be submitted and examined by the FDE discipline prior to other disciplines. Examiners will wear appropriate personal protective equipment to preserve the evidence for further testing.
Examinations performed by the discipline include:
- Handwriting Examination/Comparison
- Paper Examinations/Reconstruction
- Envelope Examinations
- Examination and Preservation of Charred and Saturated Documents
- Carbon Ribbon Examination of Typewriters
- Image Enhancement
- Indentations & Impressions
- Alterations/Obliterations/Erasures
- Document Authentication
- Ink Comparison (non-destructive)
- Identification and Examination of Conventional and Digital Print Processes
- Miscellaneous Document Exams
The discipline also maintains a Demand Note Reference Collection wherein examiners can compare the questioned demand note(s) to existing notes in the collection to determine if there are potentially similar writers or similar verbiage. This can be helpful for use in cases that may span several cities or counties across the State of Texas. Demand Notes may include financial institution (bank) robbery or establishment (store) robbery. In order for FDE to expand the reference collection, submission of original or images of demand notes are being requested from agencies.
The Crime Laboratory Division offers these FDE services for the entire State of Texas. The Forensic Document Examination section is located in the Austin Crime Laboratory. For information regarding the collection, handling and submission of forensic documents, please refer to the Laboratory Customer Handbook (PDF) or contact our examiners at DPSForensicDocs@dps.texas.gov to schedule an informational presentation on FDE services.