wrote on May 27^th, 2004 at 1:53am:

My husband and I live in and own a daycare, a few months ago my husband accidentally served soup to an infant that too hot.  The infant immediately poured that hot soup down his chest and got a nasty burn.  We informed the mother immediately and told her how sorry we were.  Long story short the police got involved and demanded a ploygraph.  He failed three critical questions and now is looking at being charged with felony injury to a child.  During the test my husband had a badly broken  hand and the examiner placed the pressure cuff on that arm.  My husband insisted that it was hurting him by placing pressure on the broken hand.  T :'(he examiner eventually changed the cuff about half way through the exam.  Also, due to the newness of the injury he hadn't slept in almost twenty four hours and was on a heavy dose of codine for the pain.  Could these things cause a false outcome?  I can not beleive what the police are saying could be true, I have been with this man for 14 years and he is not capable of intentionally hurting a child.  :'(

Anonymous,

Yes, your husband's pain could have contributed to a false positive outcome, for example, if he had pangs timed closely with the asking of one or more relevant questions. But even if your husband had not been sleep-deprived, not hand a broken hand, and not been on painkillers, he might still have easily become a false positive simply because of fear of the consequences of not being believed with regard to the questions about the accident.

Polygraph "testing" has no scientific basis, and your husband's "failing" is evidence of nothing. For more on how polygraphs "work" (and don't), see The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.

It was a mistake for your husband to agree to a polygraph interrogation. I concur with Kona that you consult with a lawyer without delay, and not speak with the police again in the absence of legal counsel.