Commonwealth v. Dinnall

7 Mass. L. Rptr. 459
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedSeptember 29, 1997
DocketNo. 97661001
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 459 (Commonwealth v. Dinnall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Dinnall, 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 459 (Mass. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Brassard, J.

Defendant John Dinnall (Dinnall) is charged with six counts of rape of a child, G.L.c. 265, §23; four counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under fourteen, G.L.c. 265, §13B; and one count of open and gross lewdness, G.L.c. 272, §16. Presently before this Court is Dinnall’s motion to admit into evidence expert testimony regarding results from a polygraph test administered to him by Mr. Delton Record, Jr. (Mr. Record). A hearing was held on September 17, 1997. At the hearing, the defendant offered the testimony of Mr. Record, and six exhibits. The prosecution did not call any witnesses or offer any documentary evidence. For tire reasons stated herein, Dinnall’s motion to admit Mr. Record’s testimony regarding the polygraph results is DENIED.

FACTS

Based on all of the credible evidence, the Court makes the following findings of fact:

1. Mr. Record has been a professional polygraph examiner since November 1977 when he completed a course of study at the Backster School of Lie Detection in San Diego. He has attended a number of courses since that time. He has performed some 6,500 polygraph examinations on behalf of defense attorneys, law enforcement agencies, and others.

2. Mr. Record conducted a “blind control” study of twenty-two subjects between August 9, 1996 and May 7, 1997. Each of the twenty-two subjects received a polygraph examination that was administered by Mr. Record. The “target” or relevant question for each of the subjects was whether that person had been charged with a sex related crime. The study was blind because Mr. Record did not know who had in fact been charged at the time of the administration of the examinations. All of the examinations were conducted in the office of a Salem attorney. The examination had to be discontinued with respect to one individual. As to the other twenty-one, ten in fact had been charged with a sex related crime and eleven had not been so charged.

3. Mr. Record employed the Backster zone of comparison technique to all of these examinations. Mr. Record testified that this technique is widely used. He employed what he termed neutral questions, controlled questions, relevant questions, and symptomatic questions. Mr. Record did not fully define all of these terms or the zone of comparison technique. Mr. Record used polygraph equipment which he purchased in 1986. This equipment measures three indices: respiratory, changes in cardiovascular activity, and galvanic skin response. Mr. Record did not explain these indices in any detail. Mr. Record testified that the underlying principle to the polygraph exam is that as a person lies he or she has a physical response to the fear of being detected in deception. He further testified that the polygraph equipment monitors the physical response of the person being examined so that the examiner can attempt to determine whether the person being examined is being deceptive.

4. Dinnall was one of the twenty-one participants in the study. Dinnall had in fact been charged with a sex related crime prior to participating in the study. However, during the study, Mr. Record was not aware that Dinnall was charged with a crime. As part of the study, all the subjects were instructed to tell Mr. Record that they had not been charged with a sex related crime. Accordingly, in his polygraph examination, Dinnall told Mr. Record that he had not been charged with a sex related crime. Mr. Record concluded that Dinnall was being deceptive when he stated that he had not been charged with a sex related crime. The defendant was also tested by Mr. Record subsequent to the study involving the twenty-one [460]*460individuals. In the latter testing, Mr. Record was aware that the defendant had actually been charged -with a sex related offense. In the second polygraph test, Mr. Record asked Dinnall if he had committed a sex related offense. Mr. Record concluded that the defendant was truthful in his denial of the commission of the sex related crime with which he stands charged.

5. On cross-examination of Mr. Record, the following testimony was adduced. Mr. Record has no degrees in science, biology, statistics or any other field. Mr. Record’s study of the twenty-one individuals is unpublished as of this time. Mr. Record has not read any of the studies questioning rates of accuracy with respect to polygraph examinations. Mr. Record generally does not read such published studies. Polygraph standards are established by the accredited polygraph schools. These schools are accredited by the American Polygraph Association. Mr. Record is not aware of any federal or state regulations with respect to polygraph examinations.

6. On cross-examination Mr. Record further testified that after interviewing each subject, and learning about that person’s background, health, employment history and other relevant factors, Mr. Record formulates control questions for that person. What may be an appropriate control question for one person may not be an appropriate control question for another person. Mr. Record did not videotape or otherwise record the interview sessions he had with the twenty-one subjects.

7. Mr. Record testified on cross-examination that he had no idea as to how the twenty-one participants in the study were chosen. Mr. Record also testified that it is possible for a subject to employ what he termed “countermeasures,” in an effort to defeat the polygraph test. Kinds of countermeasures include ingesting certain drugs prior to the examination or inducing pain during the exam. Mr. Record believes that such countermeasures are relatively easily detected by him and he seeks to monitor such measures during his examination.

8. Mr. Record further testified that as to the twenty-one subjects, he was able to determine accurately the truthfulness or deception of eighteen of those subjects with respect to the target question as to whether the individual had been charged with a sex related crime. The responses of three of the subjects were inconclusive, but Mr. Record’s inclination was to conclude that they had been truthful, and in fact those three had responded truthfully. Mr. Record further testified that he would expect even more accuracy and reliability with respect to a more charged and intense target question such as whether an individual had actually committed a sex related offense.

9. Mr. Record testified on cross-examination that his study had not been independently verified.

10. On review of the exhibits, the Court notes the following:

a. Exhibit 4 describes and summarizes the study conducted by Mr. Record. It indicates that each of the subjects who had not been charged with a sex related offense was given a hypothetical sex related fact pattern to relay to Mr. Record. The exhibit indicates that three of the subjects’ polygraph results were inconclusive. Further, the exhibit notes that all the individuals whose results were inconclusive had used the name of someone close to them as the name of the victim in their hypothetical sex related fact pattern. There is no evidence before this Court regarding whether the test results may have been impacted by the hypothetical fact patterns assigned. However, the exhibit suggests that the three inconclusive results were inconclusive as compared to the other results due to the subjects’ use of the name of someone familiar. This information appears to undermine the reliability of the study.

b. Exhibit 3 indicates that only seventeen of the twenty-one subjects gave an appropriate release to Mr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

West Boylston Cinema Corp. v. Paramount Pictures Corp.
12 Mass. L. Rptr. 530 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
7 Mass. L. Rptr. 459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-dinnall-masssuperct-1997.