ABSTRACT
Virtually everyone recognizes the writing of at least one person as well as his or her own. The initial examination of handwriting must be to determine if the writings are in fact similar, and, if this is so, consideration must then be given to the reasons for it. The consideration of a chance match in handwriting falls between those of fingerprints and shoe marks. In the comparison of fingerprints, blood, and other materials, the property that varies most within the population and least within an individual source is compared. In many areas of forensic science, such as DNA, the significance of a high level of similarity is determined by the random match probability, although in some areas it may be difficult formally to calculate this. The evidence produced from a handwriting comparison depends, as fingerprint evidence does, on the consideration and rejection of a large population—separating one person from an extremely large number.
