 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Reed v. Maryland9/6/1978
ly one of the cases mentioned as having considered the polygraph. The court noted that in Frye it "really a monograph rather than a polygraph . . . ." No standard was set forth. The court said that it had previously "followed the almost unanimous view of American courts concerning the admissibility of the results of a polygraph test." Id. at 210. It asserted that it was "convinced at th time that should adhere to the general rule of exclusion." Id. at 211.
The issue before the court in State v. Woo, 84 Wash. 2d 472, 527 P. 2d 271 (1974), yet another case cited in the majority opinion, was whether the results of a polygraph examination of a criminal defendant were admissible in evidence upon a stipulation of the defendant alone. The court said, "The general rule, followed almost without exception since Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D. C. Cir. 1923), is that the results
of a polygraph examination are inadmissible at trial." Nothing was said about applicable standards. The court noted that in a perjury case, United States v. Ridling, 350 F. Supp. 90 (E. D. Mich. 1972), the court, citing C. McCormick, Law of Evidence 505 (2d ed. E. Cleary 1972), "viewed the expert testimony on polygraph results as opinion rather than scientific evidence," admitting the evidence when it "concluded that 'the state of the science is such that the opinions of experts "will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence."'" The court further said:
"Turning again to the cases before us, the records of the omnibus hearings, unlike that in either Ridling or Zeiger, are devoid of any material to support the decisions of the judge. There is nothing to disclose whether there exists even minimum accepted qualifications for polygraph operators. If standards do exist, one is left to speculate as to what they are. There is nothing in the records, by way of testimony or exhibit, concerning the trustworthiness of the most modern polygraph equipment. The type of equipment proposed to be used in the instant cases and its reliability are not disclosed. Further, the records are silent as to techniques to be used in the examinations and whether they are professionally acceptable.
"If we are to consider a departure from a virtually unanimous rule against the admissibility of polygraph examinations, absent stipulation, we must be furnished with a record sufficiently adequate to permit review of the subject." Id. at 474-75.
It is of interest that 16 of the 28 cases cited by the majority for its proposition are concerned with the admission of polygraph evidence. Two additional cases, State v. Smith, 50 Ohio App.2d 183, 362 N.E.2d 1239 (1976), and Henderson v. State, 94 Okla. Crim. 45, 230 P. 2d 495 (1951), are concerned with polygraph plus another test -- gunshot residue in Smith and truth serum in Henderson.
Certain of the cases cited by the majority point to inherent weaknesses in the polygraph technique, weaknesses not involved in the case at bar. For instance, in Henderson the court said that it could "foresee conditions where to ascertain the truth, it would become necessary to require the operator of the machine to submit to a test to determine the truthfulness of his interpretations." Id. at 53.
In State v. Steele, 27 N.C. App. 496, 500, 219 S.E.2d 540 (1975), another of the cases cited by the majority, the court pointed out, quoting 46 Iowa L. Rev. (1961) relative to polygraphs, that "' eliability depends greatly on the skill and experience of the expert'" and "' much greater degree of interpretation is involved than in blood and ballistics tests.'" In the type of test in the case at bar the jury hears the recording of the voice known to be th
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 Maryland DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|