Opinion ID: 1756539
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Polygraph Evidence.

Text: The general rule is that polygraph evidence is inadmissible, at least in the absence of a stipulation by the parties. See State v. Marti, 290 N.W.2d 570, 586-87 (Iowa 1980); In the Matter of the Discharge of Fairbanks, 287 N.W.2d 579, 582 (Iowa 1980); State v. Conner, 241 N.W.2d 447, 457 (Iowa 1976); 3A Wigmore on Evidence § 999, at 946 (1970); McCormick on Evidence § 207, at 506 (Cleary ed. 1972). Haldeman, as plaintiff, argued for at least a limited consideration of the polygraph evidence, and the court agreed. The basis upon which it was admitted was that it was not evidence on the question of whether Haldeman was truthful, but was part of the operative facts showing malice and outrageous conduct on the part of the defendants. (Malice was relevant to Haldeman's slander claims; outrageous conduct was an element of her claim of tortious infliction of emotional distress.) The trial court admitted the polygraph evidence for those limited purposes and so instructed the jury. Instruction six said, in part: Under Iowa law such evidence is not admissible because polygraph tests are deemed scientifically unreliable. Therefore, you are instructed that you are not to consider the polygraph evidence as proof of the assertions contained therein. In other words, the results of the polygraph test is [sic] not to be considered as evidence or proof that the plaintiff was being truthful or untruthful when the test was administered. The purpose of admitting the evidence in this case is to allow you as jurors if you desire, but you are not required, to find such evidence as being part of the operative facts for the plaintiff's claims in this case that the Defendant Corporation intentionally caused her emotional distress and that both defendants acted with malice when they communicated her discharge to others. The theory advanced by Haldeman was that her employer created an emotional roller coaster for her, making promises of renewed employment if she passed the test, then reneging. Evidence concerning the polygraph test was offered to show her compliance with the employer's request. Her polygraph examination was thus a part of the operative facts underlying her theories of recovery. According to her argument, they were not offered for the purpose of showing her truthfulness. The basis for excluding polygraph evidence is usually its questionable reliability. Whether the test here was in fact reliable, however, is beside the point. We agree that it was not offered to establish her truthfulness but to show she had performed one of her employer's conditions for reemployment, i.e., taking and passing the polygraph test. Cf. Moskos v. National Ben Franklin Insurance Co., 60 Ill.App.3d 130, 17 Ill.Dec. 389, 392, 376 N.E.2d 388, 391 (1978) (admitted to show state of mind). Moreover, the widespread use of the polygraph in business, industry, and government is well known. See McCormick on Evidence § 207, at 506-07. When, as here, the test was used at the suggestion of the employer, was apparently relied upon by it to resolve employee problems, and was actually administered by its own operator, any claim the employer might have that the test is inherently unreliable lacks some of its persuasiveness. We believe, under the facts of this case and the court's limiting instructions, the evidence of the polygraph examination was properly admitted.