posted 11-12-2002 09:54 PM            

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I'd welcome any idea's on how to obtain the best information when formulating questions for a private exam. I have found unless I have the case info from the police report I usually don't get all the facts for the case. This can get frustrating when you are lead astray. Of course the subject is only getting results on what they supply for case information, but when I go to get the charts QC'd by the police department involved they tell me I didn't have all the facts of the case. Yes, I did have the subjects permission before doing so.
If anyone has run into this problem and found a good way to gather case info other than demanding a police report please let me know. There are times when even the police can't release all the facts of the case so that they don't ruin a case, but there must be some middle ground somewhere.

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posted 11-13-2002 07:59 AM            

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You might try asking the attorney or the subject exactly what they have been charged with or accused of. Try to find out from the department that tested him what their target issue was. They may not tell you the exact questions but shouldn't have a problem with telling you the issue.

The Attorney should be able to supply you with the questions asked and then you have to make sure the subject has a stake in the outcome of the test. You have to make him understand that the out come of your test is extremely important to him and that it is not just some ploy for his possible defense.

Attorney's have a tendency to hurt your test by telling the subject that the if he fails it doen't really matter because no one will no. On the other hand he tells them that if they pass they can use that to negate the results of the other test.

Hope this helps, Jack

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posted 11-13-2002 11:42 PM            

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I tell the subject I am going to play devil's advocate and pretend I m the police examiner. Then I make up the worst case scenario from the case information provided to me by the subject. As long as I warn the subject that the worst place to get information is from the subject I feel I have done my job. I alert them ahead that the police may have iformation not provided to me and suggest they may want to wait until we are entitled to "discovery" Often times they want to head off a filing and we proceed with the best exam questions possible, i.e, "Did you touch X for sexual purposes" and hope that was the "target."
Ed Gelb

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posted 11-14-2002 03:33 PM            

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It's a shame to have to do this, but I use a disclaimer even in my Police agency polygraphs.
"Based on the information provided, a polygraph examination was constructed and administered" The I include any reports etc. in my polygraph file.
If charges have been filed, you should be able to get a copy of the filing document, sometimes called an affadavit or and information, from the attorney.
good luck

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but then, that's just one man's opinion

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posted 11-15-2002 08:54 PM            

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In criminal cases, the attorney should be able to obtain the police report through either FIA or discovery. If the subject or attorney are reluctant or refuse to provide the investigative report, I would not administer the exam.

Although I am not a private examiner, I have administered a few public examinations following a private. I have found, on more than one occasion, that the attorney or subject had given the examiner bogus information regarding the issue to be tested. In one incident, the subject provided information on a similar incident that had happened two months prior to the one under investigation and he/she were not remotely involved in. This in turn effected the wording of the questions and results of the examination.

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