consultancy services cfl flair: one year of cases. flair.pdfcfl flair: one year of cases. matthew...

Comparitative authorship analysis Sociolinguistic profiling

Disputed meaning Disputed interpretation

Cryptoanalysis Other

CFL FLAIR: One year of cases.

Matthew Baldock & Tim Grantbaldockm@aston.ac.uk & t.d.grant@aston.ac.uk

BackgroundForensic Linguistic Advice Investigation and Research - the CFL Consultancy was launched May 2008. In the year May 2008 - May 2009:

� FLAIR consultants have taken on consultancy in 21 cases.

� FLAIR consultants have written 18 evidential reports.

� FLAIR consultants between them have had one Crown Court Appearance, evidence used in court on three others occasions, and have four potential appearances due over the next six months.

� FLAIR consultants have turned down more invitations to take cases than we have accepted.

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Report writtenWho sent a text message from this communal phone?Drug dealingPolice No report writtenCould the over-heard phrase ‘come here man be’ intended as a threat?Suspicious death casePolice

Case declinedWas this historic witness statement dictated to shorthand and then transcribed?Disputed convictionCCRCCase declinedWas this diary written by a teenager or an adult?Historic abuse caseDefence solicitor

Report written.Prosecution report withdrawn.

Is this a good ‘expert’ report? Response to other expertDefence solicitor*Case declinedCan you give me a contact for a Roma interpreter?InterpretationPolice

Report & Court appearance: Conviction.

Was this suicide letter written by our suspect?Fraud and firearms investigation

PoliceCase declinedCan I read a text message over the phone to you and you tell me what it means?Murder investigationPolice

Passed to crypto-analyst (who also failed to decode!)

Can you decode this letter found at the suspect’s home?Murder casePoliceReport writtenWere these emails written by the mother or her father?Child custody disputePrivate client

Report written Trial pending.

Were these text messages from the victim’s phone written by the suspect?`Murder casePolice*

Insufficient evidence to write report

Is their evidence of collusion in this set of witness statements?Personal injury group action

Solicitor

Report writtenIs their linguistic evidence of additions being made to this diary entry?Historic murder caseNorthern Ireland Police Ombudsman

Report written, no suspect identified, letters stopped.

Can you provide a profile of the writer of this series of letters threatening to put poisons into a supermarkets products?

Threat of product tampering

Police

Report written. Trial pending.

Does this Internet Relay Chat contain a threat to kill?Can you translate this phone log and these rap songs into standard English?

Conspiracy to murderCrown Prosecution Service

Report written. Possible trial pending.

Did my client’s partner write these emails?Dissolution of commercial partnership

Private client

Report written.Has my book been plagiarised?Copyrightinfringement

Private client

Insufficient data to form an opinion.

Is this employee writing abusive letters to himself?Industrial tribunalCommercial solicitors

OutcomeQueryContextClient

* More than one case fitting this description was accepted. Cases were selected from files to indicate diversity of activity.

Centre for Forensic Linguistics

Key to doughnut chart

Inner ring – 29 declined cases.Outer ring – 21 accepted cases

OtherDecoding

Disputed InterpretationDisputed meaning

Sociolinguistic profilingComparative authorship analysis