A witness who is not otherwise qualified to testify as an expert may state his opinion whether a writing is in the handwriting of a supposed writer if the court finds that he has personal knowledge of the handwriting of the supposed writer. Such personal knowlegde may be acquired from:

(a) Having seen the supposed writer write;

Terms Used In California Evidence Code 1416

  • expert: means a physician and surgeon, including a psychiatrist, or any person described by subdivision (b), (c), or (e) of Section 1010. See California Evidence Code 240
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Evidence Code 220
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Writing: means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing, any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored. See California Evidence Code 250

(b) Having seen a writing purporting to be in the handwriting of the supposed writer and upon which the supposed writer has acted or been charged;

(c) Having received letters in the due course of mail purporting to be from the supposed writer in response to letters duly addressed and mailed by him to the supposed writer; or

(d) Any other means of obtaining personal knowledge of the handwriting of the supposed writer.

(Enacted by Stats. 1965, Ch. 299.)

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