Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Beacon Journal staff writer Julie Wallace reports. Excerpt: The investigation into the missing petitions at the Summit County Board of Elections has moved to a new level — lie-detector tests. This week, investigators from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office started picking employees from the roughly 35 full-timers and 21 part-timers and asking them to submit …
Richard A. Muller, a physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, writes for Technology Review. Erroneously assuming that polygraphy is a valid diagnostic technique with an 85% accuracy rate, and ignoring the issue of countermeasures, Muller concludes that polygraph “evidence” should be admissible in court: Now we come to the true paradox. Lie detector …
Amanda Wardle reports for the Nashville City Newspaper. Excerpt: Attorneys have asked Gov. Phil Bredesen to review and consider clemency in the case of Tennessee death row inmate Philip Workman, pointing to evidence that an eyewitness in a 1982 capital murder trial was actually lying when he fingered Workman as the man who killed a …
Chris Bundgaard reports for WKRN-TV News 2. Excerpt: Philip Workman faces execution in September for the 1981 shooting death of a Memphis police officer. On Tuesday, attorneys asked Governor Phil Bredesen to spare the inmate’s life, saying a lie detector test supports their claims that an eyewitness lied. For years, lawyers for Workman have contended …
Missy Stoddard reports for the Tampa Tribune in an article titled, “Judge Keeps Woman’s Probation.” This short article is cited here in full: DADE CITY – A judge Monday denied a request to terminate the probation of a former Zephyrhills woman who had sex with two neighborhood teens. Zephyrhills police arrested Lynne Cunneen, 37, in …
Romesh Ratnesar reports for Time magazine in an article titled, “Hot on Saddam’s Trail” that a truth-telling Iraqi informant was disbelieved because he “failed” a polygraph “test.” Excerpt: …The noose around Saddam began to tighten on July 19 when U.S. forces received a tip about the whereabouts of Uday and Qusay. At the time, the …
John Cook reports for the Seattle Intelligencer in an article titled “Judge frees Znetix pair from prison; death plot discounted.” Excerpt: Znetix defendants Michael Culp and Steven Reimer have been released from prison after a federal judge discounted statements of convicted bank robber Darres Park, who testified that the two men discussed killing an FBI …
Ryan Panitz reports for KTVB News. Excerpt: The Boise Police Union wants the city to re-evaluate the polygraph policy. The union says the police department’s internal rules about taking lie detector tests are not fair if Boise Police Chief Don Pierce does not have to take one. “The police officers are asking that the chief …
Starlyn Klein reports for KCBI-TV in Boise, Idaho. Excerpt: BOISE – Before the Boise police officers voted no-confidence in their chief, Don Pierce refused to take a polygraph test requested by the police union. They wanted to ask him questions about the shake-up at City Hall. Pierce also refused to meet with the entire union …
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker reports. Excerpt: The Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck relationship is certainly being tested these days. And the failure of their first film together, ”Gigli,” could be the least of their problems. Foremost is likely the National Enquirer story–that has now taken yet another twist–about Affleck allegedly engaging in some raunchy behavior with …