Curriculum Vitae - Thomas W. Vastrick

CURRICULUM VITAE


Thomas W. Vastrick
Forensic Document Examiner

1. Education

Bachelor of Science Degree in Forensic Science from California State University at Sacramento, 1977.

Two year, full-time training program with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Headquarters Crime Laboratory in Washington, DC from 1977 through 1979.

2. Experience

Full-time Forensic Document Examiner with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Southern Region Crime Laboratory from 1980 through 1992.

Private consulting services in Forensic Document Examination since 1990.

Examinations involve handwriting, hand printing, alterations, typewriting, indented writing, counterfeiting, ink & paper analyses, burned document restoration, and mechanical impressions.

3. Courtroom Testimony

Have testified as an expert in Forensic Document Examination over 125 times and have been accepted as an expert every time. Have testified in federal, state and local courts along with military hearings, arbitration hearings and administrative law hearings.

Have testified in the following locations in Federal District Court:
ALABAMA
Birmingham
Mobile
Montgomery



 ARKANSAS
Ft. Smith
Little Rock




 FLORIDA
Ft. Lauderdale
Orlando
Miami
Pensacola
Tallahassee
Tampa
GEORGIA
Atlanta





 LOUISIANA
Alexandria
Baton Rouge
New Orleans



 MISSISSIPPI
Gulfport
Tupelo




NORTH CAROLINA
Raleigh
Statesville




 OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City





 SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston
Columbia
TENNESSEE
Chattanooga
Memphis
Nashville



 TEXAS
Dallas
Houston
Waco



 
Have testified in the following state courts:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee

4. Certification

Certified by the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners (ABFDE) since 1982. The ABFDE is the only certification body that is recognized by all federal government agencies employing Forensic Document Examiners along with many state and municipal law enforcement agencies.
Served on the ABFDE Board of Directors 1987 to 1995.
Served as Secretary of the ABFDE Board of Directors 1991 to 1995.

5. Professional Affiliations

  • American Society of Questioned Document Examiners

    •           Newsletter Editor - 1998 to 2000
              Program Chairman - 1993

  • American Academy of Forensic Sciences

    •           Questioned Documents Section

  • Southeast Association of Forensic Document Examiners

    •            Program Chairman - 1997,1998, 2000
              Workshop Facilitator - 1998, 2001

    6. Published Research Papers

  • A NON-DESTRUCTIVE PRELIMINARY TEST FOR THE DETERMINATION OF PAGE INSERTION OF A MULTIPAGED QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
    • - published in Identification News, Vol. 31, No. 9, September, 1981.

  • CHECKWRITER IDENTIFICATION - INDIVIDUALITY
    • - published in Journal of Forensic Science, Vol. 27, No. 1, January, 1982.

  • ILLUSIONS OF TRACING
    • - published in Journal of Forensic Science, Vol. 27, No.1, January, 1982.

  • THE EXAMINATION OF NOTARY SEALS
    • - published in Journal of Forensic Science, Vol. 27, No. 4, October 1982.

  • THE FORENSIC VALUE OF RIGHT-HAND JUSTIFICATION
    • - published in Forensic Science International, 1990.

  • THE CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF CHECKWRITERS
    • - a monograph published by The American Board of Forensic Document Examiners, 1991.

  • FRAUD AND QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINATION
    • - Published in The White Paper, Vol. 7, No. 2, April-May, 1993.

  • SOLVE THE CROSS WORD PUZZLE
    • - Published in Security Management, December, 1994.

  • DEPOSING FORENSIC EXPERT WITNESSES: AN EXPERT'S VIEWPOINT
    • - Published in The Memphis Bar Association Magazine, December, 1995.

  • THE UNIQUENESS OF HANDWRITING
    • - Published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, June 1998.

  • INDENTED WRITING: THE INVISIBLE EVIDENCE
    • - Published in The Florida Defender, Fall, 1999.

    7. Presentation of Professional Papers

  • CHECKWRITER IDENTIFICATION
    • - ASQDE, Rochester, NY, 1979.

  • AN UPDATE OF MODEL DIFFERENTIATION OF CHECKWRITERS BY DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS
    • - ASQDE - North Lake Tahoe, NV, 1983.

  • THE USE OF VIDEOTAPES TO ENHANCE COURTROOM PRESENTATIONS
    • - ASQDE, Montreal, Canada, 1985.

  • PLASTIC PAPER AS A QUESTIONED DOCUMENT
    • - ASQDE, Savannah, GA, 1986.

  • STANDARD REGISTER CHECKWRITERS
    • - ASQDE, San Jose, CA, 1990

  • COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS, PAPERS, CHEMICALS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USE ON DEMONSTRATIVE COURT CHARTS
    • - ASQDE, Kissimmee, FL, 1991

  • A NEW DOMESTIC CHECKWRITER MANUFACTURER
    • - ASQDE, Ottawa, Canada, 1993

  • COMPUTERIZED HANDWRITING
    • - ASQDE, Long Beach, CA, 1994

  • THE UNIQUENESS OF HANDWRITING - SURVEY RESULTS
    • - ASQDE, Chicago, IL, 1995

  • PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
    • - ASQDE, Chicago, IL, 1995

  • A COLLECTION OF FAX FONTS, PART II (Contributor)
    • - ASQDE, Chicago, IL, 1995

  • THE THIRD EXAMINER
    • - SAFDE, Atlanta, GA, 1997

  • AN OVERVIEW OF POINT AND SHOOT DIGITAL CAMERAS
    • - AAFS, San Francisco, CA, 1998

  • THE EXPERT CRITIC IN A CIVIL MATTER
    • - SAFDE, Atlanta, GA, 1999

  • A CRITICAL LOOK AT CRITICS
    • - MAFS/SWAFS joint meeting, Cape Gerardeau, MO, 1999

  • THE SKILL LEVEL OF PSEUDO-TREMOR
    • - ASQDE, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2000

    8. Teaching Experience

    Have conducted lectures and workshops for Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, University of Memphis Law School, State Technical Institute at Memphis, University of Central Florida and National Center for Forensic Science, state bar association conventions, district attorneys general convention, banks, insurance investigators, fraud investigators, private investigators, attorneys, law enforcement personnel and other document examiners concerning handwriting specimens, detecting forgeries and alterations and capabilities of Forensic Document Examiners.



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