Opinion ID: 790545
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Polygraph Evidence

Text: 13 Defendants argue that the district court erred when it refused to consider the results of a September 1999 polygraph test tending to support the hearing testimony of D.R., a male child family member, that his trial testimony consisted of made-up lies about what happened. The district court held an evidentiary hearing to determine whether this scientific evidence meets the reliability standards of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). 3 Weighing the conflicting testimony of the polygraph examiner and the government's polygraph expert, the court found that the test did not meet the standards of any accepted polygraph testing procedure, that the circumstances surrounding the examination further undermine its reliability, and therefore that the polygraph evidence in this case is not reliable enough to determine the truthfulness of D.R.'s testimony. 14 On appeal, defendants argue at length that the court misapplied the Daubert standards as they relate to polygraph testing. We do not believe the district court abused its discretion in declining to consider the polygraph evidence for the reasons stated. But in any event, the court was the ultimate fact-finder regarding the credibility of D.R.'s testimony at the evidentiary hearing. The court learned the results of the polygraph testing at the Daubert hearing and found it unreliable. Thus, the court's Daubert ruling was at most harmless error—had the court admitted the polygraph results under Daubert, this unreliable evidence would not have altered the court's finding, based on hearing D.R.'s live testimony at the evidentiary hearing, that the child's recantation was not credible.