Farrell C. Shiver
is certified by the American Board of Forensic Document
Examiners. A forensic document examiner certified by
American Board of Forensic Document Examiners is referred to as
a Diplomate. There are approximately 135 Diplomates.
The American Board
of Forensic Document Examiners (ABFDE) was founded in 1977 using
a grant from the United States Department of Justice and was
initially sponsored by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
and the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.
Today's sponsors include the American Society of Questioned
Document Examiners, the Canadian Society of Forensic Science,
the Southeastern Association of Forensic Document Examiners, and
the Southwestern Association of Forensic Document Examiners.
The ABFDE has been
recognized in numerous court decisions. In
Wheeler v.
Olympia Sports Center, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the
District of Maine (2004 U.S. Dist. Lexis 20462), the court
recognized ABFDE as a certifying body while at the same time
excluding the testimony of the defendant's proposed expert (pp.
5-7). The trial court in Wheeler v. Olympia
contrasted the qualifications of the defendant's proposed expert
to the qualifications of the ABFDE Diplomate who testified in
the case of
United States v. Mooney, 315
F.3d 54, 62 (1st Cir. 2002) (pp. 13-18).
Forensic document
examiners desiring certification by the ABFDE must possess a
baccalaureate degree and must have completed a two-year
full-time training program in forensic document examination in a
recognized forensic laboratory. Candidates for certification
must pass a written test, practical examinations, and an oral
board.
Recertification is
required every five years. Applicants for recertification
must demonstrate currency in the profession. This is
normally accomplished through the accumulation of credits earned
through attendance at workshops, professional meetings,
published research, and other recognized activity.