A third handwriting expert criticized supposed “smoking gun” evidence French authorities believe links Carleton University professor Hassan Diab to the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue that killed four people.
Calling a French handwriting analysis “fatally flawed,” Robert Radley said the report is “not what you’d expect from a trained and reliable expert.”
The French report analyzed handwriting on a hotel registration card that French authorities believe the bomber filled out before the attack.
The report’s author was instructed to determine if Diab “is certainly” or “may be” the man who filled out the registration card, instructions that all three defence handwriting experts have called biased.
Radley had prepared a technical review of the French report. Its author showed a “poor” knowledge of “even the most basic points,” he said.
“This is, in my opinion, a very superficial examination,” Radley told the court.
In the conclusion of Radley’s review — which he read in court — he said he has “never had to express criticism in such robust terms” in 30 years of casework.
“Such is the degree of unacceptability in virtually the entirety of the report,” he said.
Prosecutors will begin cross-examining Radley on Wednesday.
