Multiform Korean handwriting authentication by forensic document examiners

• When the experts exchanged opinions the percentage of misleading opinion decreased while the percentage of inconclusive opinion increased.
• The important part is the intentionally modified handwriting rather than the number of letters.

Forensic document examiners of Multiform Korean handwriting were tested using blind trials. A small number of experts (4) were tested for their performance and the test involved three steps. The participants each conducted a one-person examination first, then paired up with another person to perform the two-person examination and then finally the four people came together to conduct a group examination. When the experts actively exchanged opinions, the percentage of misleading decisions decreased while the percentage of inconclusive opinions increased. The deviations in the percentages of misleading results for different handwriting samples (long, short, signature) were not significant, while the disguised handwriting results showed the highest percentage of misleading conclusions. A special attention to artificially modified handwriting is therefore warranted rather than focusing on the number of letters.