Forensic Linguistics Cases
Authorship
Random House and Lewis Perdue
A forensic account of the striking infringements of protectable material By Daniel Brown in his Da Vinci Code with respect to Lewis Perdue's Daughter of God and related works
John Olsson and the FLI analysed plagiarism infringements involving Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code with respect to author Lewis Perdue's Daughter of God and Perdue's two earlier books, The Linz Testament and The Da Vinci Legacy.
Declaration of John Olsson in the Civil Action between Random House / Dan Brown and Lewis Perdue
Paul Cannon and Angela Taylor
The couple authored texts to each other outlining their conspiracy against Bill Taylor, Angela's husband, before and after killing him.
bbc.co.uk [external site]
Ben Field
This case involved tracing the provenance of the Defendant's diary to diary entries of one of his victims, an elderly man whom he had befriended. He, effectively, 'spied' on his victim's diary entries in order to ascertain his victim's state of mind and to see whether the various methods he was using to control his victim were working.
bbc.co.uk [external site]
Translation of rap and gang slang language
Oladapo Obedare - Defendant and associates posted youtube videos about a murder. Rap language translated into standard English.
bbc.co.uk [external site]
Courts where Dr. Olsson has provided evidence
R v David Ryan July 2013, Chester Crown Court, charge of murder
Dr Olsson reported and gave evidence that the questioned phone text messages were not likely to have been authored by the victim, Diana Lee, but that it was possible they had been authored by the defendant. Defence cross-examined briefly.
Trial outcome: Defendant guilty
R v Cregan, Livesey and others June 2013, Manchester Crown Court, charge of murder.
Dr Olsson reported that a letter found in Dale Cregan's cell was more likely to have been authored by co-defendant Luke Livesey because of some distinctive linguistic features. The letter revealed aspects of the murder of Mark Short.
Trial outcome: Defendant guilty
R v Bryon and others March 2012, Manchester Crown Court, charge of attempted murder
Dr Olsson reported and gave evidence to the effect that he had deciphered a code written on the back of a letter from Bryon to his girlfriend, in which the defendant appeared to request the addressee to bribe the victim into altering his evidence.
Trial outcome: Defendant guilty
Supreme, Superior or Higher Courts:
US Supreme Court, South Carolina Supreme Court, Royal Courts of Justice, London; Central Criminal Court, London (The Old Bailey); Glasgow High Court of Justiciary; Edinurgh High Court of Justiciary; Superior Court of Justice, Ontario.
Crown Courts:
Leeds, Luton, Wrexham, Manchester, Lincoln, Derby, Taunton, Aylesbury, Gloucester, Teesside, Lewes, Liverpool, Winchester, Warrington, Peterborough, Bristol.
Magistrates or County Courts:
Wrexham, Birkenhead, Beverley, Coventry, Oldham, Cheltenham, Lincoln, Birmingham, Durham, Cardiff.
Coroners Courts:
Brecon, Luton.
Sheriff Court:
Glasgow, Kilmarnock
The Facebook Murder - Peter ChapmanTeesside Crown Court, March 2010: authorship of phone text messages of victim whom he murdered.
Authorship of emails in international paedophile ring conspiracy - James Rennie and Neil Strachan, 2009.
Garry Weddell: authorship of alleged suicide note of wife (committed suicide before trial).
Many others, including: Barrel Killer (murder of Julie Turner, Yorkshire, 2005); Dorset suitcase murder (Samantha Faulder, Richard Ormond - murder of Richard Emery, 2008); Rehan Asghar (murder of Kashif Mahmood, 16 years old, 2007), plus linguistic analysis in more than 150 other homicide investigations and many other types of investigation from 1995 to the present.