Polygraph examinations are a continuing debate in the halls of justice as to their veracity and admissibility in court. The answer to both questions is: it depends. In some cases, a polygraph is admissible. In California, any polygraph is admissible in Court if both parties agree in advance to allow the polygraph. Have the witness in question tested by an independent polygraph examiner, and once they have “passed” the exam, have the results provided to the opposing attorneys, so they are aware of the results. The polygraph is then”work product” of the lawyer and cannot be brought into court without agreement by the lawyer and client. Read the rest of this entry »
Nov
08
Using Polygraph in Criminal Cases
Nov
03
Domestic Struggles, Abuse & Polygraph
One of the most common uses of polygraph examinations is to help get to the truth in troubled relationships. Many couples argue, never knowing the truth behind the other persons side. There is an increasing trend in couples resorting to polygraph examination in order to discern the truth about cheating, joint finances, alcohol and chemical dependency issues, child abuse, or otherwise lying to them. An increasing number of troubled couples are citing lie-detector results as the final straw which led them to file for divorce. The American Polygraph Association does not gather statistics about their members testing, but the board chairman of the association believes that at least 15% of the hundreds of thousands of polygraph tests administered each year regarding relationship disputes.
If you suspect any of the above, and live in the Carolinas, please feel free to call The Polygraph Examiner at (800) 497-9305 to see if we can help assess the truth. Read the rest of this entry »
Nov
01
Conversations with The Polygraph Examiner
If you even THINK you require a polygraph examination to establish a baseline level of truth in your relationship, the odds are that this is very stressful and emotional time in your life. The Polygraph Examiner understands that. Maintaining a compassionate and understanding disposition is as crucial as maintaining a professional and impartial attitude so as to not bias the results of the polygraph test. Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
14
Sexual Offenders & Polygraph Exams
In many states in the U.S. sexual offenders are now routinely polygraphed and it is very often a compulsory condition of their probation or parole. Very shortly, the United Kingdom will be legalizing compulsory polygraph tests for convicted sex offenders on parole. In Texas, if sexual offenders have committed offenses against new victims, a state appellate court has upheld the testing of sex offenders under community supervision and has also upheld written statements given by sex offenders. These verified written statements are then used when a motion is filed to revoke probation and the probationer may then be sentenced to prison for having violated his or her probation. All verified and reinforced by the use of a polygraph examination. Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
06
Beating a Polygraph Test: Myth Busted
Who doesn’t love “Mythbusters“? One of my favorites was when they tried to cook a turkey using radiations from a radar dish! (It actually got colder!) The popular science TV show has been debunking myths for years and in episode 93, the Mythbusters team attempted to fool the polygraph using various common misconceptions for ‘beating a polygraph’ such as pain to try to increase the readings when answering truthfully. The idea is to try and fool the machine into interpreting the truthful and non-truthful answers as the same. Read the rest of this entry »
Jun
26
Creative Trial Defense Solutions via Polygraph
There are many ways that polygraph has been used successfully in legal support by utilizing creative options such as:
- Suppression and other evidence admissibility hearings – If you are seeking to offer the polygraph at a suppression hearing or other hearing on admissibility of evidence, Rules 104(a) and 1101(d)(1) explicitly provide that the rules of evidence do not apply. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
24
Polygraph Admissibility
The widely held opinion that polygraph is not admissible in court is a false one and at some point the rumor of inadmissibility festered into fact. We’ve provided a brief federal case history with explanations of how each case has effected the basic stance of the federal courts regarding polygraph.
A few general conclusions can be made from the years of polygraph case law: Read the rest of this entry »
Apr
22
The Precedence of Polygraph
To give you a few examples of the feasibility of using polygraph examinations, we have provided a few legal precedences. Please see our web site for more details.
• 1923 – Frye v. United States
• 1975 – United States v. Oliver
• 1980 – United States v. Roberts
• 1993 – Daubert vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals
• 1995 – United States v. Posado
• 1995 – United States v. Galbreth
• 1998 – United States v. Duque
• 1998 – United States vs. Sheffer