Handwriting Analysis Experts Discuss Allegedly Fraudulent Lease Signatures

This case involves a countersuit to a lease dispute in South Dakota. The defendants purchased commercial property and began leasing the property to the plaintiff. At this time, the defendant had been renting the property out for $5000/month. Over time the rent continued to increased. In 15 years, the plaintiff’s lease was up and the defendant gave them a lease renewal, with the monthly rent increased to $15,000/month. The plaintiff requested a lower rate and negotiated with the defendant. They came to an agreement of $8000/month. Once the lease agreement was signed, the plaintiff was not paying the $8000 and was only paying previous $5000 every month. The plaintiff then sued the defendant for fraud. Upon receiving documents from the plaintiff, the defendant did not recall signing some of the documents they presented, and suspected an ink dating test would reveal they were not the original contracts.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Please describe your experience in handwriting analysis.

2. Have you ever reviewed a similar case?

Expert Witness Response E-109687

I am a certified forensic document examiner and forensic linguistics expert with 9 years of experience. Handwriting identification is a large part of my professional expertise. These are the type of cases that I regularly see. In addition to certification, I have testified 28 times in the last 5 years, most of which involved some aspect of handwriting or hand printing. My most recent published work also involved the identification of hand printing.