Opinion ID: 1631641
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Are you forty years old?

Text: 5. That the defendant, Thomas Woodrow Biddle, does hereby absolutely and irrevocably waive each and every objection, including, but not limited to the objections as to relevancy, materiality, competency, constitutionality, reliability, and self-incrimination, to the use in evidence at any stage of the prosecution of the herein described robbery charges of the results of the polygraph test. 6. That the parties agree that Sgt. G. F. Payne should be permitted to testify, for either the State of Missouri or the defendant, at any stage of the herein described robbery proceedings about the polygraph test of Thomas Woodrow Biddle, including a description of the test, the equipment used in testing, the questions and answers asked and given, defendant Thomas Woodrow Biddle's responses as recorded and Sgt. Payne's conclusion drawn from the polygraph test, including the issue whether Sgt. Payne believed defendant Thomas Woodrow Biddle's answers were truthful or not. Appellant's assertion that some of the questions asked by the examiner were outside the scope of questions permitted by the stipulation is refuted by specific provision in the stipulation that questions asked, shall include, but not be limited to . . . . Thus, use of questions not listed did not violate the terms of the stipulation. Appellant would support his assertion that the examiner did not use some of the agreed questions by argument that all listed questions in the agreement were mandatory and the examiner's deviation from them rendered the agreement void. He contends that of twelve such questions, at least five were omitted, and substantial changes were made in three. Had the intent of the parties been that the test include each of the listed questions, such could easily have been expressed. Instead, the parties stipulated the type of questions to be asked and provided examples for each of the four categories. Webster's Third New International Dictionary defines type as something that serves as a symbolic representation; a particular kind, class, or group. Listed as synonyms are kind and sort. Thus it appears from the stipulation that the parties intended to provide the areas of inquiry by the examiner without specifying the exact questions to be used. The record demonstrates that included in the questions actually used by the examiner were questions of each of the four types required by the stipulation. The expressed purpose of the parties was to obtain an expert opinion as to the truth of defendant's responses to questions concerning his participation in the herein alleged act of first degree robbery. The stipulation should be interpreted in view of the result the parties intended to accomplish. State v. Jones, 539 S.W.2d 317, 318 (Mo.App.1975). The examination as conducted served this purpose and did so within the terms of the stipulation and agreement. Appellant charges error in giving Instruction No. 5 (MAI-CR 2.10): All persons are guilty who knowingly act together with the common purpose of committing an offense, or who, whether present or not, knowingly and intentionally aid or encourage another in committing it, and whatever one does in furtherance of the offense is the act of each of them. The presence of a person at or near the scene of an offense at the time it was committed is alone not sufficient to make him responsible therefor, although his presence may be considered together with all of the evidence in determining his guilt or innocence. Appellant argues that since there was no substantial evidence of affirmative participation by defendant, this instruction was not supported by evidence; and because there was no evidence that defendant was present at or near the scene of the robbery, the second paragraph of the instruction should have been omitted in accordance with Note 3, Notes on Use, MAI-CR 2.10. This argument is resolved in the disposition of appellant's final contention that the evidence in this case is not sufficient to sustain the conviction. In this connection appellant asserts there was no direct evidence of appellant's participation in the robbery and no credible circumstantial evidence of [his] involvement in that the only evidence was appellant's testimony regarding the polygraph examination; the arrest of [defendant] on foot several miles from the scene, some five hours later and possession of two bicentennial half-dollars at the time of appellant's arrest. He argues that the place of arrest was consistent with his being stranded in the Otterville area and being in the process of walking home; he did not attempt to hide, although there were hiding places in the vicinity and he was lying in the roadside ditch because he was intoxicated; the change in his possession was consistent with some success in the poker game and his evening's start with some fifteen dollars in change given him by his father. In a determination of the sufficiency of evidence to support conviction all evidence tending to support the verdict must be considered as true, contrary evidence disregarded, and every reasonable inference supporting the verdict indulged. Where the conviction rests on circumstantial evidence, the facts and circumstances to establish guilt must be consistent with each other, consistent with the guilt of the defendant, and inconsistent with any reasonable theory of his innocence. In such cases the evidence need not be conclusive of guilt, nor must the evidence demonstrate the impossibility of innocence. State v. Franco, 544 S.W.2d 533, 534 (Mo. banc 1977), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 957, 97 S.Ct. 2682, 53 L.Ed.2d 275. Viewed in accord with the foregoing, the evidence demonstrates a submissible case: At approximately 8:30 p. m., two men actively participated in the robbery of the victim taking, among their loot, sixty to seventy dollars in change including two distinctive coins. Minutes later law officers arrived and in a short time an area wide search by police and private citizens aided by Citizen Band radios began. Later at 2:30 in the morning it was reported that defendant was seen entering a ditch four or five miles from the scene of the crime along the highway leading from the scene, and he was there discovered by the trooper. It could be inferred that defendant was attempting to conceal himself [1] and that when confronted by the trooper, he pretended to be drunk although he was not. In his possession was $22.50 in change including two distinctive coins identical to those taken some six hours earlier. While awaiting trial for this offense, defendant escaped from jail [2] and had to be brought back from the state of California to stand trial. When asked by a qualified polygraph examiner whether he participated in, had knowledge of, and received proceeds from the robbery, defendant gave negative answers which in the opinion of the examiner were deceptive. Taken together, these circumstances are a connected chain of events, consistent with each other, consistent with defendant's guilt, and inconsistent with any reasonable theory of defendant's innocence, including his own. These circumstances also support defendant's active participation and his presence at the scene of the robbery for purposes of Instruction No. 5 in form MAI-CR 2nd 2.10. The majority has determined sua sponte, without contention or demonstration of manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice for purposes of relief of plain error under Rule 29.12(b), that polygraph results are not admissible under any circumstances including the valid stipulation to their admissibility in this case. This determination provides the basis for the conclusion that the evidence is insufficient to sustain conviction. Case law in Missouri relieves of any necessity to resort to cases from foreign jurisdictions for resolution of the question thus posed. In State v. Fields, 434 S.W.2d 507 (Mo. 1968), defendant was charged with armed robbery. He entered into a stipulation with the State to take a polygraph test and specifically waived absolutely and irrevocably each and every objection to the use in evidence by the prosecution of the results of the said test. The results, in the opinion of the examiner, indicated that defendant was attempting deception on the questions that pertained to the offense and that his answers denying implication were deceptive answers. On appeal from his conviction, defendant challenged admission of the polygraph results on self-incrimination grounds. In affirming the conviction the court held: none of defendant's constitutional rights or privileges were infringed, under these circumstances, by the admission of this evidence. The weight of the evidence was solely for the jury, in the light of a most extensive cross-examination. Id. at 515. The Court declined to rule upon the admissibility of polygraph evidence from the standpoint of the scientific acceptance or nonacceptance of the tests or their accuracy on the ground that in view of the stipulation by defendant waiving his objections, It would be almost unthinkable to permit defendant now to reverse his position and oppose the reception of this evidence for the sole reason the results were not favorable. Id. at 513. In State v. Scott, 570 S.W.2d 813 (Mo. App.1978), defendant was charged with common assault. Prior to trial he stipulated to take a polygraph test and to admissibility of the results. The test proved unfavorable to defendant and he was convicted. On appeal he challenged the trial court ruling which denied cross-examination of the polygraph expert as to the rationale behind the general rule that the results of a polygraph are not admissible. In affirming the conviction the court said, Absent the written stipulation entered into between defendant and the state, the results of the polygraph examination administered to the defendant would have been inadmissible as evidence because they lacked scientific support for their reliability. State v. Weindorf, 361 S.W.2d 806, 811 (Mo.1962); State v. Cole, Mo., 188 S.W.2d 43, 51, motion den. 354 Mo. 181, 189 S.W.2d 541 (1945); and State v. Jacks, 525 S.W.2d 431, 435 (Mo.App. 1975). However, the written stipulation entered into between the parties gave the polygraph examination administered to defendant a legal aura of reliability, thereby infusing the conclusive results obtained with probative value. Id. at 814-15. In State v. Mick, 546 S.W.2d 508 (Mo. App.1976), defendant was convicted of first degree robbery. On direct examination defendant testified that prior to trial she had arranged to take a polygraph examination. On appeal the court held that once defendant had opened the door on the issue of the polygraph, it was not error for the State to inquire on cross-examination as to whether the test had ever taken place and what its results had been. Citing State v. Fields, supra , the court stated: It is the general rule in this state that the results of polygraph examinations are inadmissible as evidence because they lack scientific support for their reliability. . . . However anomalous it may be, the parties, by stipulation, may waive objections to the admission of polygraph examinations and their results, and in that sense imbue them with reliability and probative value. In State v. Ghan, 558 S.W.2d 304 (Mo. App.1977), defendant was convicted of robbery. On appeal he attacked the scientific reliability of the polygraph test results entered into evidence by the State. The court held: In Missouri, by stipulation of the parties, polygraph evidence is admissible in a criminal trial. . . . While he knew he did not have to take the test, defendant requested he be given a polygraph exam. . . . Defendant's strategy backfired, and now he seeks to escape the stipulation by raising the scientific reliability objection. There was no failure by the state to fulfill its part of the bargain defendant's only complaint is that his hoped for result was destroyed by the test. Defendant cannot challenge testimony, the receipt of which was stipulated by him. . . . By requesting and agreeing to take the test and stipulating that the results would be received into evidence, defendant waived his objections to admissibility. . . . Id. at 307-308. Thus the law in Missouri has consistently held that irrespective of scientific reliability of polygraph examinations, the parties by stipulation, for reasons of their own, can make the results of such tests admissible. As part of that stipulation, either party may knowingly and intelligently waive any or all challenges to the conduct, reliability, and constitutionality of the test; and upon a finding that the stipulation is valid, the parties should not be permitted to renege on their agreement. As demonstrated above, evidence of the circumstances surrounding the robbery, including the results of the polygraph examination, was sufficient to sustain defendant's conviction. Accordingly, and for the reasons stated, I cannot join the majority, and would affirm the judgment of conviction.