Close to 30 states ban polygraph evidence, and some legal experts said yesterday's 8-1 decision might prompt the states that do not have outright prohibitions on polygraphs to consider imposing them.
The ruling marks the first time the high court has taken up the issue of polygraph testing, and it comes at a time when the machines are increasingly being used outside of the courtroom. Prosecutors use them to extract confessions from suspects and defense lawyers use them for leverage in plea bargains. The military uses them to safeguard national security and prevent espionage, and private companies often rely on them to uncover employee wrongdoing or to monitor workers in sensitive jobs. The test results can still be used for these purposes.
Advocates of polygraphs say the instruments have grown increasingly sophisticated in recent years in their ability to determine whether a person is lying by recording their breathing, blood pressure and skin conditions.
But several justices expressed skepticism about the science and the ability of any examiner using the polygraph device to accurately gauge whether someone is telling the truth.
The jury acquitted Edwin Clark, one-time owner of the foreclosed farm that formed most of the Freemen stronghold in rural eastern Montana. Clark's lawyer had argued he was desperate to save the farm and swept up in events.
Four of the Freemen were convicted of being accessories after the fact to the armed holdup of an ABC television news crew attempting to film a story on the Freemen.
They were Steven Hance, and his sons, John and James, all of Charlotte, N.C., and Jon Barry Nelson, of Marion, Kan. All three Hances were also convicted of being fugitives in possession of firearms.
Elwin Ward was found innocent of being an accessory to any crimes com
mitted by other members of the Freemen. But he was convicted of submitting a false claim to the Internal Revenue Service.
Ward tried to pay a $143,000 federal tax bill with a bogus Freemen warrant for twice that amount, and requested a refund of the excess.
Emily Rosa, the daughter of a registered nurse and an inventor, said that 21 experienced practitioners were unable to detect the field they supposedly manipulate to heal.
Her study was published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association and immediately drew fire from supporters of the practice, who say it is respected worldwide.
04-01-98
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