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Lie Detector Tests

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rov1100 | 17:18 Mon 31st Jan 2011 | News
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Once again we have a committed murderer who has been in prison since 1985 still protesting his innocence.

http://news.sky.com/s...201101415919095?f=rss

Although lie-detectors are not foolproof couldn't they be used in appeals like these? For instance if the result confirmed his guilt then he would be condemned not only by the guilty verdict but also by the lie detector.

If the lie detector says he was innocent it would NOT mean an actual aquittal but just further investigation of the facts of the case.
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And under those circumstances the motivation for someone to submit to a lie detector test is what exactly?

Dare I say Doh!!! ?
"Although lie-detectors are not foolproof"

I think thats your answer right there.
Lie detectors only identify folk who are deliberately telling lies. If this guy dunnit but believed he had a genuine reason, ie didn't believe he was guilty then the lie detector would register him as telling the truth...which he would be i his opinion...telling the truth and stating what is factually accurate are not the same.
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Put yourself in the mind of the criminal.
1. If he was guilty and took the test the odds are he would be found guilty by the lie detector
2. If he was guilty and the lie detector says he was innocent it is inconclusive as some people are known to alter the outcome.

3. If he was innocent and the lie detector says he was innocent the guilty verdict has some doubt in it.

An innocent person would glady take the lie detector test but a guilty person may have some doubt in doing so.
Mmmmhhhh......I don't hold out much hope for this guy. He's already had two goes at appeals, and is basing this third effort on the opinions of a "photographic analyst". That simply boils down to evidence of opinion of a so called expert witness.

Can't see it succeeding, even if it does get the blessing of the Criminal Case Review Commission who are currently reassessing it. He's still a long way away from being allowed this third attempt at an Appeal which won't even be considered unless the CCRV come to the conclusion that this photographic analyst guy's expertise is seen to be new and credible evidence liable to cast doubts on his original conviction.

Seems to me like he's grasping at straws. Lie detectors won't prove anything one way or another and might just muddy the waters.
*CCRC*
As far as I am aware lie detector(Polygraph) tests are not admissable in a UK court of law.
Bamber had two appeals dismissed already,just how many more will be alowed before he is finally in prison for the whole of his sentence.
His supportes keep bringing up the fact that his disturbed sisted comitted the murdersand then comitted suicide.When it was proved that her arms were too short to shoot herself in the mouth with a shotgun that was dropped.
We must also never lose sight of the fact that Bammbe inherited a large sum of money on the deaths of these people.
Sorry to ramble,but just how many times(and amounts of taxpayers money) does it take before the sentence is finally in place permanently.
Does anyone know how many times someone can appeal against a murder convistion?
PS:~
Sorry for any typos I taking drops for my eyes.
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You are right to be worried by the costs for these continual appeals. Also you are right that lie detector tests are not evidence in a court of law but it doesn't mean they can't be successful as the US do admit them.

However they could be used by his defence council in order to strengthen its case.

We have had many cases of injustice over the past years, the law has been an ass.
I feel that it would take a seizmic shift in the UK Law system to get Polygraph tests admitted to UK Courts.
If you start using polygraphs, you might as well start using ducking stools to test for witches. To say that they "are not foolproof" is kind of understating things. They don't work reliably at all, and there is no scientific evidence to say that they do. You could just chuck dice.

Invactas: perhaps you can explain why the log for the emergency call records that the father said his daughter had gone berserk with a gun, or how the police came to be negotiating with someone inside the house whilst Bamber was outside with them?
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The miscarriages of justice have been too numerous in recent years and shows a flaw in the system. Whatever can be improved deserves some attention. To rot in jail for 30 years and finally proved innocent doesn't bear thinking about. No amount of compensation can make up for the lost years of freedom.

http://news.bbc.co.uk...rime/miscarriages.stm
I TOTALLY AGREE ROV
Rov - “The miscarriages of justice have been too numerous in recent years and shows a flaw in the system. Whatever can be improved deserves some attention.”

I agree with that statement. Anything that is proven to assist in the reduction of miscarriages of justice can only be a good thing.

But as Rojash pointed out, the use of polygraph test will not improve the situation as they are no more reliable as a test of one's truthfulness as graphology is a test of one's personality. Numerous studies carried out in many different countries have shown that polygraph tests are effectively evidentially worthless and come with a high risk of producing false positives. Therefore there use in criminal proceeding is more likely to cause miscarriages of justice than it is to rectify them.

http://en.wikipedia.o...ki/Polygraph#Validity
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Graphology does work with the right expert examining it.

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