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ERASURES/ERADICATIONS/OBLITERATIONS

Erasures (physical removal), eradications (chemical removal) and obliterations (overwriting or opaquing) are frequently encountered when attempts are made to hide or alter written entries.

EXPECTED RESULTS

The document examiner has many tools that can be effectively used to decipher erased, obliterated or eradicated writings.  The success of these attempts at decipherment varies depending on the writing instrument, the writing surface and the degree of obliteration.  Many times it is possible to restore or decipher the original information and this evidence can be of great value in solving a case.

SUBMITTER'S RESPONSIBILITIES

A document containing a suspected alteration should be handled with extra care to prevent further damage to any potential evidence.  Place the document in a protective envelope and avoid unnecessary folding or marking.  Label the protective envelope prior to inserting the evidence to prevent further marks or indented writings.  A request for this type of analysis must be done prior to any treatment for latent prints, since the chemical treatment for latent fingerprints often destroys any evidence of this nature.