Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Scientists Turn to Computers to Prove That Everyone's Handwriting Is Unique By ANDREA L. FOSTER Scientists at the State University of New York at Buffalo have turned to computers to verify that each person's handwriting is unique, according to a paper that will be published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in July. The paper could prompt more courts to accept handwriting analysis as evidence, says Sargur N. Srihari, who headed the study. Mr. Srihari, a computer-science professor, also directs the university's Center of Excellence for Document Analysis and Recognition. Mr. Srihari recently testified about his research in an effort to help the government prosecute Michael Stefan Prime, of Seattle. A jury of the U.S. District Court in Seattle last month convicted Mr. Prime of conspiracy and using counterfeit money in connection with spurious sales on eBay. Judges frequently do not allow testimony that identifies someone based on a visual analysis of handwriting because the analysis is not supported by scientifically rigorous criteria. In dismissing such evidence, judges often refer to a 1993 Supreme Court case, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. In that case, the court ruled that expert testimony must have valid scientific backing to be admitted as evidence. Mr. Srihari says his ongoing research will give more credibility to the testimony of handwriting experts. They examine the spacing of words and the curve of letters, among other characteristics, to help determine whether a particular individual was the author of a handwritten text or fragment. Mr. Srihari used artificial intelligence to help develop software that, he says, determines with 96 percent accuracy whether the same person wrote two different handwriting samples. The software applies pattern-recognition techniques to analyze 11 features that make up the overall structure of the writing, such as the layout of the document and spacing of each line, as well as 512 features of individual characters, such as individual stroke marks and the openings and closures of each character. "We're trying to push the 96 percent to a higher accuracy," says Mr. Srihari. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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