HASSAN DIAB: LEADING U.S. HANDWRITING EXPERT JOHN OSBPRNE SAYS FRENCH EXPERT'S ANALYSIS IS BIASED AND FATALLY FLAWED; OTTAWA CITIZEN;

"A leading U.S. handwriting expert told Hassan Diab's extradition hearing Monday that pivotal French handwriting analysis being used against the alleged terrorist is biased and fatally flawed.

In a stinging rebuke, U.S. forensic document examiner John Osborn said French evidence comparing Diab's handwriting with the writing of a man who signed a Paris hotel register in the fall of 1980 is "confusing and convoluted."

REPORTER CHRIS COBB: THE OTTAWA CITIZEN;

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"A leading U.S. handwriting expert told Hassan Diab's extradition hearing Monday that pivotal French handwriting analysis being used against the alleged terrorist is biased and fatally flawed," the Ottawa Citizen story by reporter Chris Cobb published on December 20, 2010 under the heading, "U.S. expert in Diab case chides French colleague: Says analysis sets the tone for bias," begins.

"In a stinging rebuke, U.S. forensic document examiner John Osborn said French evidence comparing Diab's handwriting with the writing of a man who signed a Paris hotel register in the fall of 1980 is "confusing and convoluted," the story continues.

"Former University of Ottawa professor Diab is wanted by France to stand trial for the murder of four passersby who died in a terrorist bomb blast outside a Paris synagogue in October 1980.

Diab says he is the victim of mistaken identity.

Evidence from witnesses questioned shortly after the bombing suggests that the man who signed the hotel registration card using the false name Alexander Panadriyu was also the person who planted the bomb in a motorcycle saddlebag outside the synagogue.

Osborn, a former FBI adviser, criticized the mandate French handwriting analyst Ann Bisotti got from prosecuting judge Marc Trévidic, which, he said, unacceptably limited her options.

He also criticized Bisotti for accepting the assignment as it was written. Trévidic's instruction basically asked Bisotti to say whether the writer in the hotel register "is or may be" Diab.

"Limiting any forensic scientist to specific conclusions, as these instructions clearly do, defeats the purpose of the objective observation and analysis," said Osborn in a report for defence lawyer Donald Bayne. "... Bisotti clearly accepts the instruction and thereby sets a fatal tone of subjectivity and bias."

Osborn blasted Bisotti for rejecting seven differences in the handwriting samples as "natural variation" - an analysis, he said, that was "absurd."

Former forensic document examiner Brian Lindblom was similarly critical of the Bisotti report last week and, like Osborn, said the French expert exhibited an apparent lack of understanding of accepted international standards of handwriting analysis.

Crown prosecutors Claude LeFrançois and Jeffrey Johnston suggested Lindblom's lack of knowledge of France and French methods severely dented his credibility. Johnston gave notice before Osborn's testimony that the American's lack of French qualifications would also be a target.

Bayne said it was a "startling proposition" that exclusive French methodology exists.

Bayne and the prosecutors are fighting a crucial battle over the handwriting that is key to the Diab case.

After hearing Osborn and a British expert scheduled to appear in January, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger will decide whether to exclude the Bisotti evidence.

The hearing continues today."

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The story can be found at:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/expert+Diab+case+chides+French+colleague/4005931/story.html

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;