hello,

am a foreign national.
i am working here in the US on a work permit.

recently, there was some merchandise stolen from my friend's car while we were both in the grocery store.

when this happened, my friend realized that if his company realizes that the goods were stolen while he was away from the car, they will make life miserable for him. The reason being, that the insurance company will not pay the claim if the victim is not in possession of the merchandise when it is stolen.

we called 911 and my friend told the police that he was in the car and someone took the goods from him by threatening him. he pleaded me to go along with his story in order to save his job & humuliation. i went along with his story and told the cops exactly what my friend asked me to say.

we both felt very scared & guilty that night after returning from the cop station. we knew that it would be easy for cops to figure out that we were lying. suddenly panic struck and we felt that we should go back next morning and tell the truth. The truth being; we were both in the store when the robbery happened.

the cops were happy that we came forward and told the truth and they said that they had suspicions that we weren't telling the truth earlier. they were satisfied with our second statement which we gave in writing. they even took our photographs & finger prints. they said that they would use our finger prints to identify the prints on the car. we voluntarily gave our written statement, photographs and fingerprints. they said that we were all set and that they will be in touch if they need any more help. they also said that we need not worry about anything else going forward. 

we were both happy & relieved that we told the truth and that it was all over, at least for us.

now the cops called on me yesterday and asked me to take a POLYGRAPH TEST!! i said i would do anything to help their investigation. the cop said that he believed me and that the polygraph test would be done to re-confirm our truthfulness. he said that he 'swore to GOD' that he believed me and he just wanted to be reassured by having me take the polygraph test. i said i will call him today and confirm an appointment. 

i didn't get sleep all night. i came to work this morning and did research on polygraph tests in sites like antipolygraph.org, nopolygraph.com & polygraph.com and whatever I read so far, has SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME. From what I read, there is a high possibility of me FAILING THE TEST EVEN IF I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!! I don't know what to say to the cop when I speak to him. 

Should I ask for time to think?
Should I refuse?
What are my rights?
Is it mandatory for me to take the test?
What happens if I fail?
Will they start harassing me from that day on?
How can I prevent myself from falling into this trap?
How can I get my life back?
Why am I to go through all this for nothing?
What if my employer finds out and I lose my job?

PLEASE HELP

John.

John,

I concur with Gino. You need a lawyer. Under no circumstances should you consent to being polygraphed, and you should obtain legal counsel before agreeing to be questioned by the police again.