Mention of “Polygraph” Prompts Mistrial

Patrick E. Gauen of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes on the case of Rodney Woidtke, who was being retried for murder in Bellevue, Illinois:

Polygraph, or lie-detector, tests are not admissible in Illinois courts, and case law suggests that mere mention of the word can be considered poison to a jury’s fairness.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *