A law enforcement official administers a police polygraph lie detector on a criminal suspect. It is available as an optional exam. Police investigators put forward the polygraph as a method of helping to exonerate innocent persons. In truth, the interrogator uses the polygraph as an interrogation tool that he or she can turn to his or her advantage.
It creates admissions and uncovers inconsistencies and intelligence , not to exonerate suspects. Oklahoma City criminal defense PI’s routinely counsel their clients and lawyers about the actual reason behind police polygraphs. The dangers to consenting to take one are grave. This blog lists nine reasons that criminal suspects should never agree to take a police polygraph. It also provides information on what a criminal defense investigator OKC can do instead.
What is a Police Polygraph and what are the differences between a Police Polygraph and a Defense Polygraph?
The examiner who is a police officer administers the police polygraph with one thing in mind. That’s to obtain information that will further the investigation of a suspect.
A defense lawyer hires a third party, licensed polygraph examiner to conduct a defence Polygraph. Results are at the discretion of the defense attorney. However, when the results are negative, the attorney does not pass that information to law enforcement.
The polygraph is for the benefit of the examiner’s employer. A police examiner is an employee of the agency that is investigating a case. The attorney of the accused employs a defense examiner.
That fact is of the essence. If the suspect agrees to take the polygraph, the investigators have direct access to the suspect’s stress response and his or her statements. Any and all of that session is fair game. The prosecution can use all material from this examination against the suspect.
Every suspect should get the advice of a criminal defense attorney first, according to OKC criminal defense investigators. That’s the guidance applicable prior to signing up to any polygraph by any party.
Just because you failed the polygraph, doesn’t mean you can’t testify in an Oklahoma courtroom.
Generally, the results of polygraph tests are not admissible in Oklahoma court during trials. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in a series of cases has ruled on the unreliability of polygraph evidence and its inadmissibility.
That sounds like a protective measure – and in a very limited way it is. However, it leaves suspects who take the test with a false sense of security.
This is the actual danger. All of a suspect’s statements prior to, after and during the polygraph exam are open season. Any statements the suspect makes in the room during the pre-test interview, the post-test discussion and any admissions count as statements. Prosecutors can use such statements against the defendant at trial.
Police know that they cannot use the results of a polygraph test as evidence. They also understand that the examination process often yields verbal admissions, contradictions and leads to investigation. That’s why they provide you with the test.
An Oklahoma City criminal defense private investigator will always make this fact known. It’s not the polygraph machine that’s the problem. It is a subject of discussion.
Reason 2 is that the Pre-Test Interview is actually a Custodial Interrogation in Disguise.
The pre-test interview is the most lengthy and content of a polygraph examination. It typically runs anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes before the examiner attaches any sensor.
In the pre-test interview, the examiner checks out questions, and gathers background data. They also create background to the case, and watch to see how the suspect reacts. The examiner is also looking for inconsistencies, emotional responses and spontaneous admissions.
This is an interview – a set of questions and answers. The Examiner is knowledgeable in elicitation techniques. They create rapport, ease the suspect’s guard and move him/her in the direction they wish the interrogation to go.
If a suspect enters into a pre-test interview without an attorney, he has consented to a lengthy and skillful interrogation. They don’t just answer questions regarding the test format.
A common occurrence among criminal defense private investigators in OKC is the review of a case and identification of a common trend. The statements in the police reports and prosecutor filings were not from the test, but rather from the pre-test interview.
Reason 3: Polygraph Accuracy Just isn’t high enough to risk your liberty.
According to the American Polygraph Association, in a controlled research setting, polygraph tests result in 80-90 percent accuracy. That sounds reassuring. It does mean however that 10–20% of results are incorrect.
In a real world interrogation situation, with a law enforcement examiner, accuracy drops even more. Being charged with a crime adds physiological stress that affects results. Peer reviewed journals have published research finding real world accuracy of only 65-70 percent.
There is actually a chance (albeit very small) that a non-guilty party might generate a misleading result. Courts will not allow that result at trial, but it will change the way investigators treat the suspect. Investigators will direct resources toward that person. Alternate leads will have a lower priority.
An OKC criminal defense private investigator who has assisted defense attorneys knows this effect of the investigation bias. A failed police polygraph can reroute an innocent suspect’s case against them, even before it reaches the courtroom.
Reason #4: You’re not required to take a Polygraph from the police.
There is no Oklahoma or Federal statutes or regulations that compel a criminal suspect to take a polygraph examination. Suspects always take the polygraph on a voluntary basis.
That does not mean that police investigators always make that voluntariness apparent. They can express the request as an opportunity, as a formal procedure, or as a means of clearing up an issue. Some investigators suggest that if someone refuses the test, he/she is guilty.
The fact that someone declines to take a polygraph is not an admission of guilt. Courts have consistently ruled that nothing can be done with an individual who refuses to take a polygraph except keep the refusal out of evidence at trial. In the U.S. system of law, there are rights to silence and refusal.
Norman, Oklahoma, criminal defense private investigator can discern little-pressure techniques when examining police recordings. Officers use those tricks specifically to obtain polygraph consent. Those are tactics legal for cops to employ. Someone who is not aware of his or her rights is the easiest to suspect. Graciously refuse and request that they contact an attorney.
Reason 5: The examiner controls the questions suspects must answer.
A defense polygraph involves working with the examiner and attorney on all questions prior to the polygraph. The examiner fully informs the suspect of the questions in advance. Attorneys precheck all questions.
In the police polygraph, the examiner creates the questions. The suspect first sees them shortly before the test , in the pre-test interview. The suspect can’t change or delete any question.
The police examiners know the art of formulating questions that elicit physiological responses from both guilty and innocent individuals. Questions regarding past behavior, emotional triggers, and behaviors can increase stress response and deliver false readings.
A suspect who is nervous or medically compromised will exhibit physiological data that has a number of possible interpretations by the examiner. This flexibility of interpretation is not in favor of the suspect. This is good for the examiner, not the suspect.
Oklahoma City criminal defense private investigators have recorded this situation. The examiner’s question design directly caused the innocent person to receive a deceptive result. That is not a hypothetical scenario; it’s an actual fact.
Reason 6 : Post-Test Confrontation: High-Pressure Interrogation.
The final step of a police polygraph is one of the most critical times of a criminal suspect’s life. Usually, the examiner tells the suspect his/her results at the end of the test.
The examiner will state outright if he or she thinks that the suspect was deceptive or not. They can state this conclusion as fact, although it is only their professional opinion.
The examiner designs the post-test confrontation to elicit an admission. The examiner puts psychological pressure on the examinee. They propose the polygraph already has demonstrated its worth in detecting deception. They ask the suspect to give an explanation for the outcome.
In this moment, many suspects feel they must explain, clarify, or defend themselves. An explanation is a statement if they offer one. A statement which clarifies anything that contradicts something said earlier is an inconsistency.
This is a common occurrence by a criminal defense private investigator in Edmond, OK, when he or she reviews the post-polygraph interrogation transcript. It is always the deception conclusion of the test which convicts. It is during the post-test confrontation that the statements are harmful.
Reason 7: Polygraph Results are Skewed by Nervousness, Anxiety and Medical Conditions
The polygraph detects and records a person’s body reactions: heart rate, breathing, skin conductivity, and blood pressure. Does not directly measure deception. It measures stress.
Any condition or circumstance can increase stress and produce a reading that an examiner interprets as deception. Anxiety disorders, PTSD, heart conditions, and high blood pressure all affect physiological baselines.
If the suspect is very fearful of the examination, then he/she is likely to return high scores on all questions. That is regardless of their guilt or innocence. A cool, nonchalant individual will seem to be telling the truth when he or she is not.
Drugs also have an impact on the polygraph results. Beta-blockers dampen the machine’s response that involves the cardiovascular system. Sedatives reduce anxiety reactions. An examiner who does not have the whole medical history of a suspect is making inferences from incomplete data on physiological processes.
Norman, Oklahoma’s criminal defense private detective will typically make a big discovery when he or she discusses a suspect’s medical history. The suspect’s baseline physiology causes the false, deceptive result. Police rarely offer that explanation when a party agrees to their polygraph.
Reason 8: Outcome of Polygraph Tests Affects Investigation against You
A Police Polygraph does not terminate an investigation. It refocuses it. When an examiner determines that a suspect was deceptive, he or she tells the investigation team to give that suspect more attention.
Investigators then return to each piece of evidence and look at it in light of that conclusion. They seek affirmations. They minimize evidence that leads in other directions. Researchers have well documented this cognitive bias and named it confirmation bias.
The confirmation bias effect has been a factor in criminal investigations and has led to the conviction of the wrong persons in the United States. The Innocence Project has recorded these cases of fixation. Investigators focused on one suspect after a failed polygraph test and disregarded evidence that led them elsewhere.
An OKC criminal defense private investigator who assists a defense attorney fights against that tunnel vision. Independent investigation is a counter to confirmation bias in a direct manner. The investigator looks for, checks out, and investigates other suspects and other evidence. They also follow leads that law enforcement dropped following the direction of the polygraph.
The investigator can only conduct such an investigation if the client said nothing. Taking the polygraph test gives the prosecution directions to the defense.
Reason 9: Any words you say can and WILL be used against you.
Everyone has the right not to incriminate himself or herself. The protections hold true when taking a polygraph as they would during any other police activity.
People being questioned too easily forget this protection when they sit in the polygraph room. The pre-test interview is conversational and casual, and is not anything like a formal interrogation. The examiner might appear to be able to relate and understand. The suspect begins to talk.
Everything said in the room is a statement to the police. This is applicable before, during, and after the test. Officers can include those words in police reports. They can provide them to prosecutors. Prosecutors may use them to build a case for guilt.
This is the norm for a criminal defense private investigator in Edmond, OK, who reviews police files. The polygraph session itself, not the machine, produced the most harmful information through what the suspect voluntarily said.
What is a criminal suspect supposed to do if he or she doesn’t take the polygraph test?
It is important that you don’t agree to take the police polygraph. Refusal is not a defense strategy! An Oklahoma City criminal defense private investigator creates an alternative that is proactive and based on evidence.
Get Legal Advice from a Criminal Defense Attorney ASAP.
A suspect’s initial call should be to a criminal defense attorney. An attorney creates attorney-client privilege to all communications. They counsel on matters of confidentiality and what to say and not say to the police.
An attorney also has control over whether or not any polygraph, police or defense, is suitable for the case. Sometimes, a voluntary defense polygraph taken by an independent licensed examiner bolsters a defense. The attorney and client make that decision together as a team.
Complete an Independent Defense Investigation.
A private investigator for criminal defense OKC will carry out an investigation parallel to law enforcement’s investigation. That investigation involves talking to witnesses, recording evidence, obtaining surveillance footage, and background checks of other suspects.
Norman Oklahoma Private Investigators working criminal defense cases canvass neighborhoods and interview overlooked witnesses. They also find physical evidence that law enforcement didn’t follow up. That is what evidence creates the base of a viable defense.
Utilize Surveillance and Background Checks to enhance Alibi Claims
When a private detective in Edmond, OK takes on criminal defense cases, verifying alibis is the best place to start. Cell phone records, credit card transactions, and surveillance footage establish a suspect’s whereabouts. Witness testimony then fleshes out those facts.
Get Your Evidence To Stick
Evidence is time-sensitive. The surveillance system overwrites its video. Witnesses alter their positions or change their testimony. Physical evidence degrades. An Oklahoma City criminal defense private detective who begins his work right away will have the biggest opportunity of preserving evidence. The most important weapon for the defense is time.
Law enforcement can continue to investigate and develop a case against someone if they wait. Delay in waiting to see the results of a police polygraph means a loss of access to the best evidence.
Some of the most common questions about police polygraphs and criminal defense.
Could the police make use of my refusal to take a polygraph against me?
No. A suspect may refuse to take a polygraph and the fact that he or she refused will not be evidence against him or her at trial. Courts have always upheld the right to refuse without adverse legal consequences.
If police officers state that they will clear my name if I take a polygraph?
Treat that offer with skepticism. The police polygraph is a tool of the investigation, NOT the suspect. Don’t take a test from law enforcement without talking to a criminal defense lawyer.
If I’ve already been administered a polygraph test by police, can a criminal defense private investigator assist me?
Yes. An Oklahoma City criminal defense private investigator will be able to look at the polygraph session and discover the deficiencies in the session. They can contest the approach of the examiner and develop other evidence to refute the examiner’s false conclusion.
Collaborate with a Criminal Defense Private Investigator
It is one of the most perilous things that a criminal suspect can do to agree to a police polygraph. Courts may not accept the actual test. However, everything discussed in that room before, during and after is enough to ruin a defense. An independent criminal defense private investigator will work in OKC throughout all stages of the investigation. That support provides security for suspects, improves the quality of defense attorneys and creates cases that stick in court.
We are criminal defense private investigators that provide services to clients in Oklahoma City, OKC, Normand Oklahoma and Edmond OK. On each case, we perform alibi verification, witness interviews, background checks and evidence gathering independently from all other parties involved in the case.
Call us at 403-0106(405) or email vivien@ojpslegal.com to speak with a criminal defense private investigator today.
