So I was reading
this article at Yahoo! about the TANG docs and the name Sandra Ramsey Lines, a fellow at the American Association of Forensic Sciences comes up
Document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines of Paradise Valley, Ariz., who examined the documents for the AP, said she was "virtually certain" they were generated by computer.
Lines said that meant she could testify in court that, beyond a reasonable doubt, her opinion was that the memos were written on a computer.
so I googled her and got her email address. I also checked her out at opensecrets.org (she has made no political donations that show up there).
So I politely emailed her, not mentioning a word about politics and told her about Hunters brilliant diary.
So, son of a gun, she just emailed me back.
Her response after the fold...
Dear Stillman:
My examination was based on a number of factors. Perhaps the most important
thing ... I could find no typewriter font that matched exactly the Times
font letter for letter in the questioned documents (there was always some
difference/variation) in the questioned letters when compared with the
database Times fonts for that time period. The "th" superscript could have
existed on some IBM Selectrics and Times fonts have been around a long time.
However, I was able to produce in Microsoft Word document that when compared
with the questioned memos showed no significant differences in the letter
forms, spacing, indentations, etc.
My findings were that the questioned letters/memos "very probably" were
computer-generated using Word or WordPerfect. Without examining the
original documents, I cannot be positive. Since then, more information has
come to light that confirms my findings.
Thank you for your comments. They are appreciated.
Sandra Ramsey Lines
Forensic Document Examiner
I have loved the way this community has responded to this issue.
How should I respond to this bona fide expert?
Ideas?