Is the polygraph admissible in court?
Federal courts have ruled that polygraph is NOT per-se inadmissible in a court procedure, but that it may be considered when standard rules of scientific evidence have been met. In other words, applicants must apply to the judge for admissibility under the “Daubert” standard of evidence on a case-by-case basis. Individual judges can still decline to accept polygraph results, however. Each jurisdiction must be checked to determine admissibility standards. One of the greatest fears keeping polygraph evidence out of courts is the fact that such evidence would carry greater weight than other equally-important evidence and would tend to sway a jury in one direction even though other evidence may point the other way. In most cases, polygraph evidence is used during pre-trial negotiations and plea bargain agreements rather than during the trial itself.
(back to top) Federal courts have ruled that polygraph is NOT per-se inadmissible in a court procedure, but that it may be considered when standard rules of scientific evidence have been met. In other words, applicants must apply to the judge for admissibility under the “Daubert” standard of evidence on a case-by-case basis. Individual judges can still decline to accept polygraph results, however. Each jurisdiction must be checked to determine admissibility standards. One of the greatest fears keeping polygraph evidence out of courts is the fact that such evidence would carry greater weight than other equally-important evidence and would tend to sway a jury in one direction even though other evidence may point the other way. In most cases, polygraph evidence is used during pre-trial negotiations and plea bargain agreements rather than during the trial itself.
Each jurisdiction must be checked to determine admissibility standards; some courts allow the introduction of polygraph evidence while others have not. In most cases, polygraph evidence is used during pre-trial investigation and preparations rather than during the actual trial. In the O. J. Simpson civil trial, the results of a polygraph were admitted into evidence. This established a precedent across the nation allowing polygraph examinations in civil trials such as divorce cases.
