Daniel
Norman
A
document examiner hired by the defense for its
motion for a new trial, Dr. Norman took test
samples of the Baltimore Documents and the envelope
in which Chambers said they had been stored.
He found that the documents were of different
ages. Nor were they typed with the same ribbon,
he said. This led the defense to conclude that
they were typed in different years (not over
a single period of days in 1938, as Chambers
claimed). Norman also noted significant differences
in paper sizes among the documents, and that
some pages were cut to make them all appear
to be the same size. Hiss's attorney, Chester
Lane, said this was further indication of a
forgery, because, he said, an espionage agent
would not take the time to do this.
Dr.
Norman also examined the envelope and found
that stains that had leaked through the envelope
were not found on the pages. Norman maintained
that had the envelope been stored with the documents
inside for ten years, at least some of the stains
would have been evident on the paper inside
the envelope.
Dr.
Norman also analyzed the Woodstock typewriter
#230,099, found by the defense and thought to
be the old Hiss family typewriter. Dr. Norman
saw that the typebars on the machine had been
crudely altered with blobs of solder that were
still present on the keys. He said none of this
work matched the kind of manufacturing techniques
used in the Woodstock factory, leading to his
conclusion that the machine had been altered.
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