Opinion ID: 388130
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State Justifications for the Stipulation Requirement

Text: 25 The state justifies the requirement that the district attorney sign a written stipulation to the admission of the results of a polygraph test on the theory that a pre-test stipulation 13 increases the reliability of the test itself. Without a pre-test stipulation as to admissibility, the defendant could continue to take successive tests until one finally produced favorable results. The defendant could also take each test secure in the knowledge that the test results would neither be disclosed nor be used against him should they not turn out to be favorable. This sense of security diminishes the fear of discovered deception, upon which an effective examination depends. United States v. Wilson, 361 F.Supp. 510, 514 (D.Md.1973); See also United States v. Urquidez, 356 F.Supp. 1363, 1366 (C.D.Cal.1973). Academic commentators in the field have also recognized that stipulation requirements heighten the fears of the person undergoing the test about being detected and increase the reliability of the polygraph examination. Orne, Implications of Laboratory Research for the Detection of Deception, 2 Polygraph 169, 193-95 (1973); Abbell, Polygraph Evidence: The Case Against Admissibility in Federal Criminal Trials, 15 Am.Crim.L.Rev. 29, 35 (1977). Although we have no definitive view on the matter, as a matter of common sense we find this thesis quite reasonable. 26 Defendant, however, challenges the validity of this hypothesis with the citation of other academic works that reject the hypothesis or have found it unsubstantiated in laboratory tests. 14 As indicated, we do not wish to weigh the empirical evidence on this claim and, indeed, feel less than fully qualified to do so. 27 'It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.' Mr. Justice Brandeis, dissenting in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262, 311, 52 S.Ct. 371, 386, 76 L.Ed.2d 747. 28 Fay v. New York, 332 U.S. 261, 296, 67 S.Ct. 1613, 1631, 91 L.Ed. 2043 (1947). While the matter is open to debate, there is a sufficient possibility of enhancing the reliability of polygraph examinations to support the Stanislawski pre-test stipulation requirement. 29