{"id":2968,"date":"2001-04-16T15:00:01","date_gmt":"2001-04-16T20:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/?p=2968"},"modified":"2021-02-18T08:02:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T13:02:15","slug":"u-s-department-of-justice-investigates-polygraph-induced-false-confession-in-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2001\/04\/16\/u-s-department-of-justice-investigates-polygraph-induced-false-confession-in-detroit\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Department of Justice Investigates Polygraph-Induced False Confession in Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n

In an article entitled, “Detroit Police Inquiry Expands,”<\/a> Detroit News<\/em> correspondents Norman Sinclair and Ronald J. Hansen cite a recent case where Detroit homicide investigators coerced a false confession following a polygraph interrogation. U.S. Justice Department investigators are examining the case:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gayles’ case history<\/strong><\/p>

The case of Michael Gayles began at 2 a.m. Sept. 2, [2000] when police took a statement in which Gayles confessed to the Aug. 31 rape and killing of J’nai Glasker in her bedroom.<\/p>

During the next 36 hours, Gayles, who receives disability benefits from the state, signed another typed confession statement and a handwritten addendum in which he implicated his mother. Each confession was more explicit and precise in its language than the first.<\/p>

His mother, Leathy Gayles Washington, was held for a weekend but never charged.<\/p>

Michael Gayles, who has the IQ of an 8-year-old, lived near Glasker on the northwest side and had a juvenile record of criminal sexual conduct. At the time of his arrest, he repeatedly maintained his innocence in statements to the media.<\/p>

Two weeks after charging him with first-degree murder and criminal sexual conduct, police dropped the charges when DNA evidence proved he did not rape the girl.<\/p>

Deputy Chief Hall said the case proves that the department properly handles investigations. “He took a polygraph and failed it. After that, he made a full and graphic confession. The confession fit the facts of the crime. It was our investigation that cleared him in the end.”<\/p>

Lawyer Mark Satawa, a former Wayne County prosecutor who represented Michael Gayles after his arrest, said the confessions are signs of major problems in the department’s Homicide Section.<\/p>

“Most of the homicide investigators I worked with when I was a prosecutor were honest, hard-working professionals,” Satawa said. “But at times, we used to scratch our heads over some of the things that happened over there. We knew something was wrong in homicide.<\/p>

“The Homicide Section is overworked and under pressure to solve cases. I know the job is difficult, but the pressure forces some to cut corners. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an article entitled, “Detroit Police Inquiry Expands,” Detroit News correspondents Norman Sinclair and Ronald J. Hansen cite a recent case where Detroit homicide investigators coerced a false confession following a polygraph interrogation. U.S. Justice Department investigators are examining the case: Gayles’ case history The case of Michael Gayles began at 2 a.m. Sept. 2, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[322,321],"class_list":{"0":"post-2968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-polygraph","7":"tag-detroit","8":"tag-false-confession","9":"anons"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2969,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2968\/revisions\/2969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}