Tonight's CBS Evening News broadcast's only arguable "expert," Marcel Matley, can only opine as to handwriting and signatures

The only expert identified or quoted on Dan Rather's just-concluded "CBS Evening News" broadcast, Marcel Matley, almost certainly lacks the qualifications to address the vast majority of issues raised by those who've questioned the authenticity of the documents produced by CBS News.

I've just spent twenty minutes or so googling Mr. Matley, following each link produced by a search on his name.  The closest I found to a resume was this very brief page, which reads:

Marcel Matley studied handwriting analysis with Rose Toomey and was certified by the Paul de Ste. Colombe Center.  In 1985 he became a full time professional document examiner and has other interests in medical and psychological research, paleography, education, Western formal penmanship and Oriental calligraphy.  He is the author of several published monographs and articles, taught private classes and seminars, and presented at conferences. The American Handwriting Analysts Foundation’s library, as well as a collection of more than 4,000 forensics and handwriting articles, is located in his home in San Francisco where it is available for reference by appointment.

A couple of other pages suggest that Mr. Matley is available as an expert witness for hire on handwriting analysis — nothing wrong with that necessarily.  He apparently has spoken and/or written at various seminars for lawyers and other experts, including at least one hosted by the National Association of Document Examiners, but he is not listed by name on that organizations (perhaps non-exhaustive) page of members; nor have I seen any reference to him claiming entitlement to that association's "designation of Certified Document Examiner, or CDE."  Mr. Matley has been quoted in some press accounts of medium-to-high profile disputes — always in the context of handwriting analysis.  He's listed as a "forensic document examiner" on the semi-functional website of something called the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation, and also as its librarian; it may be that he has some sort of certification from that organization, which avers that its purpose is to "provide information and services to its members with the goal of enriching their effectiveness as handwriting analysts and to educate the public about the handwriting sciences."

I can find no references on the internet which would suggest that Mr. Matley has any qualifications whatsoever to give expert opinions on computer or typewriter fonts or typefaces, or on the authenticity of documents in general, as distinct from handwriting or perhaps signatures.

Were I, as a trial lawyer, considering hiring him as an expert witness, or were I preparing to cross-examine him as an expert hired by my opposing counsel, I'd need — and insist upon, and be able to get through court compulsion if need be — far more information about his background and qualifications, even with respect to handwriting or signature analysis.  But for present purposes, I'll stipulate that Mr. Matley is adequately qualified to talk about signatures.  And indeed, it would be appropriate for CBS to engage someone with that expertise, and some of the questions raised about the CBS documents have related to the variations of the signatures (which, at least to my inexpert eye, don't look all that similar to one another).  So I'm not saying that he's altogether the wrong kind of expert, or that everything he's told CBS or said in tonight's broadcast is entirely irrelevant.

But Marcel Matley simply can't be the guy to authenticate, or defend the authenticity of, the computer- or typewriter-generated portions of the CBS documents.  Nor did anything he said in tonight's "CBS Evening News" broadcast suggest that he even claims to have that expertise, much less that he's exercised it in this instance.  Unless he has a vast body of unrevealed credentials, in fact, I'm very confident that I could persuade any state or federal court to completely exclude Mr. Matley's testimony on any subject other than handwriting or signatures.

(Even what Mr. Matley had to say about signatures was superficial and far from unequivocal, but I'll refrain from arguing that issue at present.)

The CBS broadcast also included statements from Robert Strong, identified as "an administrative officer for the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam Years."  Dan Rather insists that Strong "knew Jerry Killian, the man credited with writing the documents ... and paper work ...  like these documents ... was his specialty."  Well, yes, Dan, in that sense, probably at least 100 million Americans have a specialty in "paper work."  I'm not going to bother rebutting the silly suggestion that Mr. Strong has been shown to have any particular technical or scientific expertise to opine on the legitimacy of these documents.  At best, I'd characterize Mr. Strong as a "soft witness" who could give contextual testimony on the likelihood, in general, that Col. Killian might have created or maintained memoranda of this sort — like other TANG personnel who may have served with Col. Killian, or his son or widow. 

Author and TV news correspondent Jim Moore, identified as having "written two books critical of President Bush and his service in the Guard" — presumably Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential being one of them — lacks even the marginal bona fides to speak to the legitimacy of the challenged documents that Mr. Strong might have as a "soft witness" who knew Col. Killian.  Mr. Moore does, however, look great in a cowboy hat.

If Mr. Strong or Mr. Moore were among those whom CBS was counting upon among its "independent experts," they're fools, or they think we are.

Update (Fri Sep 10 @ 8:20pm):  The fine lawyer-bloggers at Power Line also have a take on CBS' disclosed experts so far that's far more succinct than my own, but generally consistent.

Update (Fri Sep 10 @ 11:35pm):  Another version of Matley's CV, which my googling missed because I didn't have his middle initial.  (Hat-tip Wizbang!.)

Update (Tue Sep 14 @ 4:20am):  I'm advised by email from "Jacqueline A. Joseph, CDE
Certification Committee Chairperson," that "Marcel Matley is a certified member of National Association of Document Examiners."

Update (Fri Sep 17 @ 2:40am): On the other hand, Fox News confirms that Matley "is not certified by the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners, has had no formal training in identifying either papers, inks, typewriters or photocopies, and has never been trained in a document lab or by any law enforcement entity."