Court Opinion

ID: 9770223
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 15:55:01.941515+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:15.848203
License: Public Domain

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from that part of the majority opinion which reverses this case because the use of the word “polygraph” once during a four-day trial in which there was no mention of the test results or whether a test had been given, did not require the granting of a mistrial or reversal.
At the beginning of the trial, defense counsel made a motion in limine indicating his understanding that the prosecution witnesses would be admonished not to mention a “lie detector test” or in any way implying that one was given. The Commonwealth acknowledged the general inadmissibility of polygraph tests but reserved the right to argue regarding the length of the period of interrogation depending on how cross-examination develops. During cross-examination, the polygraph examiner was asked where Morgan was physically located during the two hour and 45 minute interrogation. The officer explained that he and Morgan were sitting in an office alone talking. Defense counsel then asked whether there was a two-way mirror in the office and at this point, the officer asked the defense lawyer if he would like him to describe the entire office and everything in it. Defense counsel responded “Please. Describe it.” At this point, one of the prosecutors asked to approach the bench to discuss the problem of a possible polygraph statement and requested that the defense withdraw the question. The request to withdraw the question was denied.
Back before the jury, defense counsel again asked the police officer to proceed with describing the room. The police officer witness had not participated in the bench conference and replied that the room had a desk, a polygraph instrument on top of the desk, two chairs and a two-way mirror and that it was painted a pleasant color. Defense counsel then approached the bench and asked “What do you think? I didn’t think he’d do that.” The prosecution noted that the witness did not say the polygraph machine was in operation and the trial judge stated that he was going to continue. Defense counsel immediately moved for a mistrial which was denied by the court. The trial judge said that in light of the circumstances under which the word “polygraph” was used, there was no harm. No admonition to the jury was requested or given.
The trial court did not err by refusing to grant a mistrial when a prosecution witness stated on cross-examination that there was a polygraph machine in the room used for questioning Morgan. The mere mention of the word “polygraph” is not always fatal. There must be a clear inference that the statement could be deemed prejudicial. McQueen v. Commonwealth, Ky., 669 S.W.2d 519 (1984). In this case, it was *709agreed prior to the testimony that the prosecution witness, a polygraph examiner, would be referred to as an individual with special interrogation skills. It was also agreed there would be no mention of the word “polygraph.”
The only reference to the polygraph was the statement that a polygraph machine was in the room. There was no mention of a test being administered or any result. The answer given by the witness was also in direct response to a question asked by the defense attorney.
It cannot be said that a single reference to a polygraph machine automatically requires the granting of a mistrial. There was no manifest, urgent or real necessity to declare a mistrial. Skaggs v. Commonwealth, Ky., 694 S.W.2d 672 (1985). In light of the second taped statement in which Morgan admitted to hurting his wife any error in allowing mention of a polygraph machine was harmless. RCr 9.24.
The majority opinion asserts that this case requires this Court to go a step further and determine whether the mere disclosure that interrogation took place in a room containing a polygraph instrument was reversible error. I believe that under the circumstances of this case, there was no error and that the majority has gone a step too far. The majority says that this decision should not be regarded as a bright-line rule. In my view that is internally and inherently inconsistent. The opinions of this Court are considered carefully by courts, prosecutors and defense lawyers. It is either express legal authority or it is not. It cannot be both ways.
A review of the law in the federal and other states indicates that no other jurisdiction has adopted such an expansion of the suppression of polygraph doctrine. An excellent discussion of the entire situation which is very close to this case may be found in United States v. Hall, 805 F.2d 1410 (10th Cir.1986). In that ease, the trial judge told the defense that polygraph results would be relevant if the defense attacked the quality of the official investigation. The trial judge gave a limiting admonition regarding the use of the evidence. Hall, supra, discusses several similar cases including Tyler v. United States, 193 F.2d 24 (D.C.Cir.1951), cert. denied, 343 U.S. 908, 72 S.Ct. 639, 96 L.Ed. 1326. In Tyler, supra, the defendant contended that his confession was the result of coercion and the police were not allowed to testify that a lie detector examination showed that the defendant had been lying. The testimony was admitted not as proof of lying but to show the surrounding circumstances.
The mere mention that a polygraph instrument was in the room where Morgan was being questioned was not reversible error. The totality of the actual circumstances must be considered. The fact that this was a four-day trial and that the single mention occurred during cross-examination, in addition to the fact that the prosecution sought to avoid it by asking that the question be withdrawn, all have a bearing on the responsibility of the reviewing court in its determination of reversible error.
United States v. Herrera, 832 F.2d 833 (4th Cir.1987), found that single reference to a polygraph contained in a plea agreement was harmless error. U.S. v. Kiszewski, 877 F.2d 210 (2nd Cir.1989) reached a similar conclusion.
In this situation, we have an experienced police officer being questioned by an experienced defense lawyer. The officer was not party to the bench conference and previous questions from defense counsel had related to the total length of time that Morgan had been questioned. It would not have been an unreasonable defense strategy to have tried to demonstrate some kind of police coercion. United States v. Bad Cob, 560 F.2d 877 (8th Cir.1977) found that there was a possible strategic reason for failing to object and that references that the defendant refused to take a lie detector test were not reversible. See also United States v. Kampiles, 609 F.2d 1233 (7th Cir.1979).
In addition, other state courts have not adopted a rule requiring an automatic mistrial or reversal of a conviction because of the mere mention of the word “polygraph” during trial. All of the actual circum*710stances surrounding the reference at a trial must be taken into account. Stewart v. State, 398 So.2d 369, 374 (Ala.Cr.App., 1981) affirming a conviction, determined that the reference merely related to the location of the defendant’s conversation with the detective and did not indicate that a lie detector test had been given or disclosed its results.
Hansborough v. State, 509 So.2d 1081 (Fla.,1987) refused to hold that the mere mention of a polygraph examination was necessarily reversible error. For similar results see Nave v. State, 171 Ga.App. 165, 318 S.E.2d 753 (1984); State v. Kosters, 175 Mich.App. 748, 438 N.W.2d 651 (1989); State v. Fenney, 448 N.W.2d 54 (Minn.1989); State v. Beach, 215 Neb. 213, 337 N.W.2d 772 (1983); Epperly v. Commonwealth, 224 Va. 214, 294 S.E.2d 882 (1982); State v. Land, 681 S.W.2d 589 (Tenn.Cr.App.1984).
Here the majority assumes that the jury would have been influenced or even perhaps prejudiced because of the mere mention of the word “polygraph.” The majority speculates on what the jury thought in regard to an earlier reference to special interrogation skills. If we wander into the wonderland of jury psychoanalysis, then it may be permissible to further speculate that the jury thought nothing at all about the polygraph reference. In fact perhaps the jury did not even understand what the definition of the word “polygraph” meant. Further speculation may revolve around an experienced police officer being questioned by an experienced defense counsel. In dissent, we do not adopt any theory of speculation but merely recite it to indicate that once you begin speculation there can be no end to it. The result of such speculation leads directly to a substitution by the reviewing court of its judgment for that of the trial judge. The trial judge did not believe that this momentary reference to polygraph amounted to grounds for a mistrial. The defense counsel did not even ask for an admonition. The trial judge is in a unique position to best assess the impact of such a statement on the jury. I believe his decision should not be disturbed.
In the context of this case, the mere mention of the location of a polygraph instrument did not amount to reversible error. The conviction should be upheld in all respects.
REYNOLDS and SPAIN, JJ., join in this dissent.