ABSTRACT
Handwriting identification is predicated on the belief that handwriting is unique to the individual. Handwriting identification is based on two accepted premises or principles and a corollary to one of them. The first is habituation. The second premise or principle upon which handwriting identification is founded involves the individuality of writing. In handwriting comparisons, letters, combinations of letters, words, or phrases must be considered according to the degree to which they constitute a collective habit. Historically, handwriting identification has employed particular methods for the analysis of handwriting evidence where the analyst endeavors to apply appropriate principles of science and logic in accordance with scientific method. The focus of a handwriting examination, which is the physical evidence, is the conscious and deliberate issue of an animate person. The principal respect in which handwriting identification differs from graphology is that identification is a comparative process between a questioned sample and a body of comparison material in order to determine authorship questions.
