Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Jamie Satterfield reports for the Knoxville, Tennessee News-Sentinel: If a polygraph test can help land a person in jail, a Knoxville lawyer argues, why can it not be used to free the accused? Knoxville attorney Gregory P. Isaacs wants to use the results of a polygraph examination to try to prove to a jury that …
Gallatin News Examiner editor Deborah Highland and staff writer Jane Stegmeier report: An investigator from the Tennessee Fire Marshal’s office is conducting polygraph tests on Gallatin’s firefighters to determine who, if anyone, among their ranks is a quarter thief. “I decided that we would find whether we had somebody that wasn’t telling the truth,” Gallatin …
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 …
Frank Munger reports for the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Excerpt: OAK RIDGE – It’s a real-life variation of the game truth or consequences. The Department of Energy figures the potential consequences of a security breach in the nuclear weapons program are so grave that extraordinary precautions must be taken. That includes truth testing for key employees. Despite …
Tennesean staff writer Laura Frank reports. Excerpt: Last month, John Kline sat down in a chair at the Marriott Residence Inn in Brentwood with tubes and wires attaching his body to a polygraph machine. Consultant Kendall W. Shull, whose previous job was overseeing the Federal Bureau of Investigation polygraph unit at FBI headquarters in Washington, …
Nashville Tennessean staff writer Kathy Carlson reports. Excerpt: Two Metro police officers charged with violating department regulations by abusing or failing to report abuse of Hispanic residents will take polygraph tests Tuesday that will help Deputy Police Chief Deborah Faulkner decide the case. The officers, Michael Mann and Jason Beddoe, were formally charged May 30 …