Question

A document examiner is hired to examine a questioned document against an exemplar. He finds the following characteristics: 1. Both documents used a blue Bic pen 2. Both documents used white Xerox paper 3. Both documents have unique handwriting characteristics 4. Both documents used a Mead #2 pencil Which of the above characteristics is considered individual evidence? A) item 1 B) item 2 C) item 3 D) item 4

Answer 1

I'd say Item 3. What you're looking to do here is narrow down your evidence to a single source. All the other options are class characteristics. Anyone could have used white Xerox paper, a blue Bic pen, or #2 pencil when writing. But everyone's handwriting is unique.

Answer 2

It should be C) Item 3
What I imagine the characteristics of individual evidence would be a piece of evidence that can be traced back to only a certain individual. The other pieces of evidence could be used by anybody.