Exhibit A 

Case No. 1:11-cr-00355-MSK Document 134-1 filed 08/31/12 USDC Colorado pg 1 of 9
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Criminal Action No. 11-cr-00355-MSK-02

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff, 

v.

2. JOHN PHILLIP GALLEGOS 

 Defendant. 

DEFENDANT JOHN P. GALLEGOS’ DISCLOSURE RELATING TO THE 

ANTICIPATED TESTIMONY OF FORENSIC DOCUMENT ANALYST ROBERT D. 

KULLMAN

 Defendant John Phillip Gallegos by counsel, William L. Taylor and Darlene A. Bagley of 

Ridley, McGreevy & Winocur, P.C., in compliance with the Court’s scheduling order and 

pursuant to F.R.E. 702, hereby makes the following disclosure relating to the anticipated 

testimony of Robert D. Kullman, Forensic Document Analyst. 

Introduction 

 Mr. Kullman will testify that he has examined documents from discovery in this case that 

purport to bear the signature of Mr. John Gallegos in an attempt to determine whether Mr. 

Gallegos actually signed the documents or whether the questioned documents were signed by 

someone else. 

He will testify regarding his training and background as a forensic document analyst for 

over 30 years for the Michigan State Police, as a private consultant, and for Speckin Forensic 

Laboratories. He will describe the forensic principles and techniques employed by forensic 

document analysts and handwriting examiners, and the forensic conclusions that can and 

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cannot be reached through forensic handwriting and document analysis, given the evidence 

available in this case, and based on these forensic principles and techniques. He will testify to 

the conclusions he has reached regarding the authenticity vel non of the purported signatures 

of John Gallegos that he has examined during his review. This disclosure sets out in 

summary form the opinions and conclusions reached by Mr. Kullman about which he is 

prepared to testify.

Qualifications of Robert Kullman 

 Mr. Kullman retired from the Michigan State Police after a twenty five-year career with 

that agency, fifteen of which he spent in the Crime Laboratory as a handwriting and document 

analyst. Mr. Kullman has worked as a private consultant in the same forensic fields since 

1989. He is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Questioned 

Documents Section. He received professional training in questioned documents analysis from 

the Michigan State Police, the United States Secret Service Laboratory, and the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation Training Academy, among other sources. 

Mr. Kullman is a court-qualified expert in the areas of handwriting analysis and 

document analysis. He has given sworn testimony as an expert in excess of 300 times. 

Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Kullman’s curriculum vitae and a list of cases in which he has 

given expert testimony over the last four years and cases in federal courts in which he has 

given expert testimony. See Exhibit A. 

Inventory of Documents / Signatures Analyzed 

 Mr. Kullman was provided materials from discovery disclosed to the defense during the 

pendency of this case. A list by Bates number of the documents reviewed by Mr. Kullman is 

attached hereto as Exhibit B. Mr. Kullman will testify that he was asked by the defense to 

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analyze the signatures on these documents to determine whether he could identify questioned 

signatures as those of John Gallegos. 

Summary of Conclusions and Opinions 

 Mr. Kullman will testify that, generally speaking, he was able to identify three categories 

of documents/signatures in response to the request that he attempt to determine whether the 

signature pages provided were signed by John Gallegos: (A) signatures that are inconsistent 

with known samples of John Gallegos’ signature, (B) signatures that are identical to each other 

and are consistent with impressions from a signature stamp bearing John Gallegos’ name, 

rather than handwritten signatures, and (C) signatures that have characteristics that are 

consistent with the known signature of John Gallegos, but that he cannot say to a reasonable 

degree of certainty are those of John Gallegos, based on forensic principles and standards. 

Finally, Mr. Kullman, based on studies relied upon in his field, will testify to his opinion that 

forensic document examiners encounter significantly lower error rates in signature 

authentication than do laypersons. 

 Category A: Signatures Not John Gallegos’ 

 Among the documents submitted for analysis were the following documents, which 

purport to bear the signature of John Gallegos. 

Ex. No. Document Description Signature Block Image

S-6-2 Loan Application, at 

00000869. Gallegos 

allegedly signing as 

Interviewer

L-4-2 Loan Application, at 

00008081. Gallegos 

allegedly signing as 

Borrower, dated 2/13/04

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S-12-10 Title Commitment, unknown 

person signing, dated 2/2/04

S-23A-2 Loan Application, at 

00005413, John Gallegos 

allegedly signing as 

Interviewer, dated 12/5/06

L-11-4 To Whom it May Concern 

letters, at 00009890 and 

00009891, John Gallegos 

allegedly signing as 

borrower, dated 12/7/06

L-13-2 Loan Application, at 

00010798, John Gallegos 

allegedly signing as 

Interviewer, dated 1/23/07

 It is Mr. Kullman’s opinion that the purported signatures set out above (1) are 

inconsistent with the signature of John Gallegos, and (2) probably were signed by more than 

one person. 

 Category B: Signatures by Signature Stamp 

Mr. Kullman will testify that a number of signatures on documents analyzed are not only 

similar, they are identical. See Bates-numbered documents 00009260, 00009264, 00009266, 

00009267, 00009256, 0002555, 00009713, 00003166, 00003900, 00004349, and 00004753. 

In Mr. Kullman’s opinion, normal variation in anyone’s handwriting precludes signatures from 

being truly identical. These signatures are, in his expert opinion, not signatures at all, but are 

consistent with impressions from a stamp of John Gallegos’ signature. 

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An example of such a signature stamp impression is provided below. 

Ex. L-8-8. 

 Category C: Signatures That Mr. Kullman Cannot Say to a Reasonable Degree of 

Certainty are that of John Gallegos 

S-12-5 Certification of tax return 

preparation, G&G Associates, 

John Gallegos allegedly 

signing as tax accountant, 

dated 3/10/04

L-6-4 Certification of tax return 

preparation, G&G Associates, 

John Gallegos allegedly 

signing as tax accountant, 

dated 5/17/04

S-19-8 Instructions to Title, John 

Gallegos allegedly signing as 

Title Company, dated approx. 

8/05

S-18-2 Loan Application, at 

00003556, John Gallegos 

allegedly signing as 

Interviewer, dated 9/7/05

 It is Mr. Kullman’s opinion that the signatures above are consistent with signatures of 

John Gallegos, but in some instances there are also characteristics that call this conclusion 

into doubt, and/or suggest that others may have signed Mr. Gallegos’ name. Without original 

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documents, Mr. Kullman cannot identify these signatures as those of John Gallegos to a 

reasonable degree of certainty. 

 Opinion Concerning Limitations on Inferences to be Drawn From Evidence 

Mr. Kullman will opine that any forensic examination of the documents in this case is 

hampered and intrinsically limited by the unavailability of original documents. Original 

documents are necessary in order to draw conclusions as to the identity of signatories with a 

reasonable degree of certainty for many reasons. For example, one cannot, without originals, 

determine with certainty the fluency of the writing, the writing pressure and presence or 

absence of variation of the writing pressure, the tapering or bluntness of beginning and ending 

of a stroke, the direction of the writing and direction of individual strokes (such as, whether an 

“o” is made clockwise or counter-clockwise), the stops or hesitations within the written lines, or 

whether the signatures/writings are tracings or slowly drawn simulations of authentic 

signatures/writings. See, generally, Exhibit C, ASTM Standard Guide for Examination of 

Handwritten Items, attached. Because original documents were not available for forensic 

analysis, it is Mr. Kullman’s opinion that it is not possible to determine with reasonable 

certainty who signed a particular document. 

Opinion Concerning Error Rates in Signature Authentication by Laypersons and 

Forensic Document Examiners 

Mr. Kullman will opine that laypersons experience significantly higher error rates when 

attempting to authenticate signatures than do forensic document examiners. This opinion is 

supported by scientifically conducted studies authored by Moshe Kam, PhD, Kishore 

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Gummadidala, M.S., Gabriel Fielding, PhD, and Robert Conn, PhD. See attached Exhibits D 

and E. 

DATED this 24th day of August, 2012, at Denver , Colorado. 

Respectfully submitted.

/s/ William L. Taylor 

William L. Taylor, #21098

/s/ Darlene A. Bagley 

Darlene A. Bagley, #35728

RIDLEY, MCGREEVY & WINOCUR 

P.C.

303 16th Street, Suite 200

Denver, CO 80202

Telephone: (303) 629-9700

Fax: (303) 629-9702

E-Mail: wltaylorpc@gmail.com; 

taylor@ridleylaw.com; 

bagley@ridleylaw.com

Attorneys for John Phillip Gallegos

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this 24th day of August, 2012, I served a true and correct copy of 

the foregoing DEFENDANT JOHN P. GALLEGOS’ DISCLOSURE RELATING TO THE 

ANTICIPATED TESTIMONY OF ROBERT D. KULLMAN via email to all parties: 

Linda Kaufman 

Assistant United States Attorney 

United States Attorney’s Office 

1225 Seventeenth Street, Suite 700 

Denver, Colorado 80202 

Telephone: (303) 454-0100 

FAX: (303) 454-0401 

E-mail: Linda.Kaufman@usdoj.gov

Attorney for Government 

Martha Paluch 

Assistant United States Attorney 

United States Attorney’s Office 

1225 Seventeenth Street, Suite 700 

Denver, Colorado 80202 

Telephone: (303) 454-0100 

FAX: (303) 454-0401 

E-mail: martha.paluch@usdoj.gov

Paula M. Ray 

Paula M. Ray, P.C. 

P.O. Box 12554 

Denver, CO 80212-0554 

Telephone: 303-874-5170 

E-mail: paulamray@earthlink.net

Attorney for Craig Weingart 

Martin Stuart 

PortmanStuart, LLC 

955 Bannock Street, suite 200 

Denver, CO 80204

Phone: 303-355-6789 

Fax: 303-623-0714 

E-mail: mstuart@portmanstuart.com

Attorney for Waunita Weingart 

Attorney for Government 

 

 /s/ William L. Taylor 

 William L. Taylor 

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