Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Mark McDonald reports for the Philadelphia Daily News. Excerpt: DID CITY Councilman Rick Mariano refer to residents of Irish descent in the 31st Ward in Kensington as “trailer-park Irish trash?” Councilman Frank DiCicco is so sure of it, he’s taking a Daily News-sponsored lie-detector test today to prove it. DiCicco says Mariano made the remark …
Chicago Tribune national correspondent Evan Osnos reports on the pre-trial testimony of Osama Awadallah, who faces federal perjury charges. Excerpt: Awadallah, a permanent U.S. resident whose trial is set to begin May 20, testified that the government’s intimidation began with his earliest conversations with the FBI on Sept. 20, when, he said, 15 to 20 …
William R. Gorta reports for the New York Post. Excerpt: February 19, 2002 — A Jordanian charged with lying to a grand jury recited to a federal judge a list of alleged law-enforcement abuses at his pre-trial evidence-suppression hearing yesterday. Osama Awadallah, 21, said he was physically abused by jail guards, denied access to a …
Associated Press correspondent Larry Neumeister reports on Osama Awadallah’s courtroom testimony. Excerpt: NEW YORK (AP) – A Jordanian student testified Monday that FBI agents accused him of being one of the Sept. 11 terrorists after saying he failed a lie detector test. Osama Awadallah, 21, said agents told him he would be freed but after …
Associated Press correspondent Frank Eltman reports on the case of Osama Awadallah, who faces perjury charges stemming at least in part from an FBI polygraph interrogation. Excerpt: NEW YORK (AP) – An FBI agent testified Saturday that a Jordanian student with alleged links to two of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers was deceptive during a …
Tom Gordon reports for the Alabama News in an article titled, “Siegelman hires criminal lawyer.” Excerpt: Gov. Don Siegelman has hired a prominent Birmingham criminal defense lawyer to investigate who leaked information about subpoenas issued for the governor’s personal financial records. David Cromwell Johnson, who represented former Gov. Jim Folsom eight years ago in an …
In an article titled, “Boss or unionist?” Max Hamata reports for The Namibian on a polygraph dragnet that has led to the suspension of five employees for failing their “tests.” Excerpt: A TOP union official has been accused of exposing himself to a conflict of interest after the bank he chairs subjected six employees to …
Ric Sapnu reports for the Philippine Star on the use of polygraphy in a high-profile murder case in the Philippines. Excerpt: Sr. Supt. Ismael Rafanan, Pampanga police director said that Siegfried Wittman, 68, a German national, earlier a suspect in the killing of American tourist Brian Thomas Smith, passed the lie detector test conducted by …
Los Angeles Times staff writers Jill Leovy and Matea Gold, in an article titled “Parks Defends Record on Crime, Consent Decree,” mention that Police Chief Bernard C. Parks acknowledged a 50% pre-employment polygraph failure rate in a meeting with reporters on Friday, 8 Feb. Excerpt (emphasis added): On recruiting, Parks argued that factors outside his …
Associated Press writer Michael Rubinkam reports on the pseudoscience of voice stress analysis. Excerpt: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police want to know if a suspect is lying, but the polygraph test comes back inconclusive. What’s an exasperated interrogator to do? Increasingly, law enforcement agencies are using a technology that measures “voice stress” — small frequency modulations …