Chapter 11 - § 11.6 • HANDWRITING

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 11.6 • HANDWRITING

Colorado

➢ Authentication of Signature; Direct Testimony. The testimony of a witness that he was acquainted with the handwriting of all parties executing a power of attorney, and that, in his opinion, the signatures were genuine, was a sufficient foundation for admission of a disputed document. Fearnley v. Fearnley, 44 Colo. 417, 426-27, 98 P. 819, 823 (1908). A written contract was properly admitted into evidence over objection of the defendant that the authenticity of the signature of the defendant's agent had not been established, when a witness testified that he was familiar with the handwriting of the defendant's agent and that the signature on the instruments was that of the defendant's agent. Hinchman v. Keener, 38 P. 611, 612 (Colo. App. 1894).

➢ Authentication of Handwriting; Use of Other Writings. "[W]hen a writing in issue is claimed on the one hand to be the writing of a particular person, any other writing of that person's may be admitted in evidence for the mere purpose of comparison with the writing in dispute, whether the latter is susceptible of or supported by direct proof or not; but before any such writing shall be admissible for such purpose, its genuineness must be found as a preliminary fact by the presiding judge, upon clear and undoubted evidence." Wilson v. Scroggs, 85 Colo. 537, 542, 277 P. 784, 786 (Colo. 1929); see People v. Davis, 296 P.3d 219, 231-32 (Colo. App. 2012) (holding that it was not plain error for the trial court to allow a detective to authenticate handwriting considering that "[t]he detective was [] familiar with the handwriting of defendant and other 211 Crew members. Their letters were typically signed and admitted into evidence together with envelopes showing the letters' sends and recipients. A handwriting expert not challenged by defendant verified the identification of defendant's handwriting. Furthermore, defendant d[id] not allege that the detective incorrectly identified the author of any handwritten evidence.").

➢ Authentication of Handwriting; Expert Not Essential. Under CRE 901(b)(4), the authentication requirement for handwriting, such as a letter, "may be satisfied by the item's appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with the circumstances . . . . The absence of handwriting analysis is not a bar to a document's admission." People v. Crespi, 155 P.3d 570, 573 (Colo. App. 2006); see Westland Distrib., Inc.

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