Which Lie Did I Tell?: Should Polygraph Tests Replace Preliminary Hearings?
It is well established that, except in New Mexico, polygraph evidence is inadmissible to prove the guilt (or innocence) of a criminal defendant. That said, polygraphs are starting to play a larger role in the American criminal justice system. Last summer, I posted an entry about the Supreme Court of South Carolina upholding a waiver in a plea agreement that stated that the
petitioner agreed that if a subsequent polygraph examination demonstrated deception, inconsistencies, or that petitioner shot the victim, then “the terms of this proffer are null and void and any statements made by [petitioner] may be used against him by the State for any legal purpose, including…disposition of charges through plea or trial…and impeachment.”…Further, section 7 provide[d] in relevant part not only that petitioner’s violation of the Agreement would render the Proffer’s terms null and void, but also that “the State shall have the right to use any information obtained through this Proffer in any fashion, whether direct [or] collateral….”
Late last month, a polygraph test almost played a similarly prominent role in the prosecution of a Pennsylvania man.
Roger Young was charged with molesting two young girls at a day care center operated by his wife. Butler was initially supposed to have a preliminary hearing to determine whether there was probable cause for the charges brought against him. But then,
An assistant Butler County prosecutor…offered to let…Young…take a polygraph test instead of having a preliminary hearing….Under the deal – approved by Young’s attorney – the charges would have been sent to trial if Young failed the test and dropped if he passed.
So, what happened?
District Attorney Richard Goldinger said he wasn’t aware of the deal and nixed it when he learned of it.
“The agreement is not appropriate and doesn’t achieve justice for the victims in the alleged crime,” Goldinger said.
I’m probably in the same boat as Goldinger because I don’t find polygraph evidence to be especially reliable. That said, given that prosecutors are not included polygraph waiver in plea agreement, are we really that far away from polygraph tests replacing preliminary hearings?
-CM