WTF-Now a polygraph

[drywall]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin... (37year old white male)

I'll try to keep this brief. There is a missing man in my small town that was last seen leaving a tavern and on the same night I got waved down by a guy who needed a ride to the next town over. I dropped him off and proceeded to pick up my daughter at the mall.

Well people saw me pick up this guy and I heard a description of my truck on the news and I said to myself that I'm who they're looking for, so having nothing to hide and walked into the police station and told them everything I could about this hitch-hiker and all of a sudden I'm being questioned like I did something with this guy. I told them I doubt it was the same guy who is missing because I think the guy I picked up was shorter and this guy said he was married where the missing guy was not. They searched my truck thoroughly and of coarse found nothing. That was a week ago and now the police lady came by my house to say I need to come in for a polygraph test. At first I said sure, no problem but now I'm not sure and am a little nervous. I think I need a lawyer but no way I can afford one right now. I am a small business owner and money is a bit short. I have been 100% cooperative and am 100% innocent but this is getting to be a little scary for me.
Any advice I can work with here? Thanks in advance.

[CdwJava]

They cannot make you take a polygraph. You CAN refuse.

If you cannot afford an attorney, then that's all that can be advised. You are not charged with a crime so a publicly appointed attorney is not an option.

- Carl

[drywall]

Thanks Carl,
I guess I could put it on a cc but darnit, I did nothing wrong and was just being a nice guy by giving this guy a ride.
I guess what it will come down to is I'll be out attorney fees and hopefully that is all. I just wish I could get a public defender free of charge seeing how I'm innocent and barely able to make ends meet the way it is.
I guess I knew the answer to my own question before I asked it but hoped for some magic answer to help me out. Cry out loud!

[brknhearted]

You don't need to hire an attorney. If you are contacted again in regards to this tell them politely that you are not required by law to speak to them anymore and hang up.

If they are going to charge you with anything, they will regardless of a polygraph.

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by brknhearted

You don't need to hire an attorney. If you are contacted again in regards to this tell them politely that you are not required by law to speak to them anymore and hang up.

If they are going to charge you with anything, they will regardless of a polygraph.

You would be well advised to disregard the advice given to you by brknhearted...

[John P]

I don't think brknhearted is necessarily wrong at all. Read about lie detectors on Wikipedia:

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph[/url]

You can see that US Govt agencies dealing with security use polygraphs, but they don't really believe in them. It also says "no defendant or witness can be forced to undergo the test". Whether results can be admitted in court varies by state.

The question would be whether a refusal to cooperate would get you in enough trouble that you'd be better off to do it. You could go into the police station (with a witness) and ask to discuss the situation with an officer. Ask them how reliable they think the test is, and how they respond to the facts presented in the Wikipedia article. You're could say that you've voluntarily talked to their investigators and "If your best people can't solve this case, what makes you think some gadget will?" Basically I would guess that if they're challenged to say that they really believe in this thing, they'll back away. But then, what are they likely to do in retaliation? That's the problem.

[CdwJava]

The usefulness of the polygraph is that it sometimes gives investigative leads where there may not have been, and and it can help weed out suspects that might otherwise be excluded.

Frequently they are given to parents and family members of abducted or missing children in an effort to help exclude them as suspects ... this allows the police to focus their efforts in other directions.

Are they perfect? No. Are their examiners that know their stuff? Absolutely! I have worked with a couple of excellent examiners in my time and in missing persons cases, they tend to be very valuable tools. By not excluding yourself as a possible suspect, the police will have to waste time looking into your actions and background more deeply ... this might prevent them from pursuing some other lead right now.

- Carl

[drywall]

Thanks again carl,

I went back in to the police station this morning and sat down with the commander on duty to have a chat.
I told him that I first came in voluntarily to tell them what little I knew in order for them to focus their work on other leads. I reminded him that they already searched my truck and that the truck had obviously not been cleaned for some time as that is my office. I've done all I can to help them and though I am not happy with having to rely on this test to confirm my innocents I will submit if they insist. LOL. He said now they were looking at a couple other leads including the set of footprints in the snow on a train tressel(sp) that ended halfway over the bridge with no return footprints!!! Obviously this drunk ******* fell off the tracks and down into the river, then down past there it is ice covered. I think they will find there guy floating in the springtime and the hitch-hiker I picked up was unrelated. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

My background was not too good 15-20 years back but since then I have cleaned up my act, work a billion hours a week and have a great family. No drinking or drugs for almost 20 years now. The thing that sucks is that I had to slap around a guy a few months ago and was charged with some disorderly conduct BS. I'm sure the cop look at my background and think I could be their man...

[fairisfair]

Originally Posted by brknhearted

You don't need to hire an attorney. If you are contacted again in regards to this tell them politely that you are not required by law to speak to them anymore and hang up.

If they are going to charge you with anything, they will regardless of a polygraph.

okay, write this down.

NEVER NEVER NEVER encourage a person who is possibly being considered as a suspect in a criminal investigation NOT to seek legal advice.

NEVER NEVER NEVER.

[drywall]

I received a call an hour or so ago from the police and said they found the drunk whom I gave a ride to, thank God!
Carl and the others here---You have a great website and like anything, you take some advise and laugh at he other but keep up the good work. Thanks a lot!!!

Be Good, and if you can't be good, be Careful.