CBS 60 Minutes II reports on the case of Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel King, who became a suspect after an inconclusive polygraph screening “test.” The Navy claims that King confessed to committing espionage in a post-test interrogation. King maintains that his alleged confession was false and the result of abusive interrogation tactics including sleep deprivation. The Navy recently dropped all charges againts PO1C King. Excerpt:
(CBS) Following the arrest of Robert Hanssen – the FBI agent who allegedly gave up national secrets to the Russians for 15 years – the FBI started this week giving to 500 employees in an effort to catch spies.
But with polygraphs often setting off false alarms, what are the chances of branding innocent people as traitors? Navy Petty Officer Daniel King says that happened to him. After King took a routine polygraph test, the Navy accused him of espionage and kept him in jail for over a year and a half – without having any physical evidence of a crime. The Navy won’t speak publicly about the case but Daniel King recently spoke with Correspondent Vicki Mabrey.
The CBS 60 Minutes II website also features a bulletin board which asks the question, “Do you think the government should use polygraphs to root out potential spies?”: