Now this is how the polygraph really works

Baby sitter granted new trial on reckless homicide
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky Court of Appeals today ordered a new trial for a woman who confessed to a homicide after she was tricked into thinking she had failed a lie-detector test.

Jamie Smith was sentenced to five years in prison for the death of an infant she was baby-sitting in Jefferson County. She passed a polygraph examination, but a Louisville police detective, Sgt. Eddie Payton, led her to believe she had failed.

The judge would not permit Smith to bring up the deception during her trial in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

The appeals court previously upheld Smith's conviction. The Kentucky Supreme Court sent the case back after ruling in a second case that a defendant could introduce evidence of the circumstances surrounding a confession.

The second case involved the same detective -- Payton -- using the same tactic to obtain a confession, the appellate opinion said.

Judge Julia Tackett of Lexington wrote the opinion. Judges David Barber of Prestonsburg and Sara Walter Combs of Stanton concurred.

suethem,
I'm wondering if Sgt. Payton administered the polygraphs. The article leads me to believe that he did not. I'll have to check into it further. I suppose their are 3 possible scenarios to this case:
1) She successfully used CM's but broke down under interrogation.
2) She actually is innocent, and was forced into confessing after a marathon interrogation which included the poly.
3) She actually did it and totally lacks any remorse or regret whatsoever, thus her lack of reaction on the poly.

If she used CM's, we know who didn't perform the polys

Great detective work Orolan 8)

The Kentucky Court of Appeals "unpublished" opinion (it's not "secret" -- it's just not to be cited as a precedent in future court documents) in this case may be downloaded from the court's website. Go to the Searchable Opinions page and enter the search words "Jamie Smith."

beech trees,
The Rodgers case is the first one I quoted, where Mr. Payton is a lieutenant.
George,
What's your take on these cases? Has the theory and knowledge of CM's been around long enough for them to have possibly been a factor in the Rodgers case?

George,
The Rogers case is from 1995. Information in the Opinion seems to indicate that he didn't or wouldn't have used CM's.

Speaking of trickery, anyone heard of "Cold Reading" psychological techniques being applied by polygraphers? I ran across this book that suggests it is a must read, especially for forensic interrogations. In fact it ends listing that as an application. Here's a quote from Martin Gardner:

"A marvellous treatise on cold reading. I can't imagine any book on the subject being more definitive!" - Martin Gardner

http://www.ian-rowland.com/ItemsToBuy/ColdReading/FFColdReadingmain.php

-Marty

Marty,

I think there are indeed similarities between polygraphic interrogation techniques and the cold reading techniques employed by psychics, palm readers, fortune tellers, and other assorted charlatans, especially when it comes to the polygrapher's fishing for details as to why a question might be "bothering" a polygraph subject. For example, after collecting a polygraph chart, some polygraphers will ask the subject, "Which question bothered you the most?"

With regard to cold reading, see Robert Todd Carroll's entry in the Skeptic's Dictionary:

http://www.skepdic.com/coldread.html