Kota Kinabalu: A forensic handwriting expert told the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir on Thursday that her findings were non-conclusive and did not determine that anyone had attempted to imitate Zara's handwriting.
Forensic document examiner and certified handwriting expert Dr Linthini Gannetion, the 74th deponent, told Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan that she could not rule out potential misguides and confirmed under questioning by Deputy Public Prosecutor Dana Arabi Wazani that her report did not conclude that exhibits Y1 to Y15 were wholly written by someone other than Zara.
Dr Linthini also agreed that her report did not identify any specific person who altered or tampered with the documents, establish when or how any alleged alteration occurred, identify any simulated or forged handwriting, or contain a positive finding of forgery or disguised handwriting.
On the issue of obliterations, she testified that it was possible for a writer to erase, amend or obliterate his or her own writing, and that an obliteration could have been made by the original writer herself, while adding that the use of different ink types may raise questions about timing or the writing occasion but does not conclusively prove tampering by another person.
She further told the court that she did not conduct ink dating analysis because Malaysia lacks an ink dating database suited to its climate and there is insufficient research in the field, meaning she could not determine precisely when the different inks were applied.
