New York Post reporter David K. Li writes that the Star supermarket tabloid has offered actor Robert Blake $100,000 to submit to a polygraph test regarding issues surrounding the recent murder of his wife. Excerpt:
May 31, 2001 — LOS ANGELES – A supermarket tabloid has offered actor Robert Blake $100,000 to take a polygraph test to clear himself of suspicion in the mysterious murder of his wife.
While so-called lie-detector tests are generally not allowed as evidence in court, Star editor-in-chief Tony Frost said yesterday Blake has nothing to lose.“If Mr. Blake has nothing to hide, what better way is there of removing the umbrella of suspicion?” Frost told The Post.
“The results of a polygraphs are not admissible in a court of law, but they do go a long way to convincing the court of public opinion.”
…
Blake’s lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Frost said his magazine has never asked a celebrity to take a polygraph, but the public interest in Bakley’s murder prompted the test-for-cash challenge.
The Star has retained Los Angeles-based polygraph expert Joseph Paolella, formerly of the Secret Service, to administer the test if Blake takes the bait.
Paolella said he’d ask Blake just four questions: Did he kill Bakley, know who killed her, arrange the killing, or have access to a Walther handgun?
ABC news has reported that a German-made Walther was the murder weapon.
Star editor-in-chief Tony Frost is egregiously mistaken when he says that Blake has “nothing to lose” by submitting to a polygraph. In truth, besides the $100,000, Blake has nothing to gain. If he “passes,” it is not likely that he will be removed from suspicion. And if he “fails,” his “conviction by popular public opinion” is overwhelmingly likely. The fact remains that the polygraph has never been shown to have better than chance accuracy in a peer-reviewed scientific study conducted under field conditions. Innocent or guilty, Robert Blake would be wise not to “take the bait” and respectfully decline any polygraph offered by the Star or anyone else.