Opinion ID: 795717
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Disclosure of Results of Polygraph Test

Text: 116 Lupo next argues that the he is entitled to a reversal of his convictions where the government failed to disclose that one of its witnesses and Lupo's co-conspirator, Raymond Contesti, had failed a polygraph test. We disagree. [T]he Supreme Court has held that a prosecutor has no constitutional duty even to disclose to a criminal defendant the fact that a witness has `failed' a polygraph test. King v. Trippett, 192 F.3d 517, 522 (6th Cir.1999) (citations omitted). According to the Supreme Court, there is simply no consensus that polygraph evidence is reliable. To this day, the scientific community remains extremely polarized about the reliability of polygraph techniques. 8 United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 309, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 (1998); see also King, 192 F.3d at 522. 117 On September 30, 2003, Raymond Contesti submitted to a polygraph test, where he was asked whether he had received any kickbacks from companies other than HCI, and whether he received more than $125,000 in cash from Hudson. Contesti responded no to these questions, and the polygraph examiner determined that his answers were indicative of deception. Contesti later pled guilty to racketeering and testified for the government. The government admits that it did not disclose these polygraph results to Lupo's attorney prior to trial, but maintains that counsel for the government did not have a copy of the report before or during trial. Lupo claims that the government's failure to disclose these results implicated his right to confrontation, rendering him unable to challenge Contesti's credibility at trial. 118 Lupo's argument is not supported by the case law. The Supreme Court has previously held that a defendant is not entitled to disclosure of the results of a polygraph examination. Moreover, under the case law of this Circuit, it is probable that Lupo would not have been allowed to introduce evidence related to the polygraph test at all since [g]enerally, the results of polygraph examinations are inadmissible into evidence. Barger, 931 F.2d at 370. 119 We therefore conclude that Lupo is not entitled to reversal on this issue where the government was not required to disclose the polygraph results, and where it does not appear that such disclosure would have resulted in a different outcome. 120