Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/02/21/the-first-crime-solved-by-a-li.html
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I’ve always seen a “lie detector” as pseudoscientific device that does nothing except scare people into spilling their guts.
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Indeed, the story on the podcast ends with with the suspect having a freakout and confessing due to the accusations made by the machine operators. The podcasters acknowledge that to this day it remains unclear if she actually was guilty.
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Oh yeah. Law enforcement knows this, it’s just another tool to intimidate people into confessing. That’s why the results of the test themselves are inadmissible in court in most states, but they still use it.
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Just imagining Trump’s excuses as to why he wouldn’t answer q’s on a polygraph
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Yup. I know someone who was totally innocent but failed a polygraph. He worked in a place where some money was stolen from a safe (left open during business hours per protocol). He had a pretty good idea who had stolen the money – a co-worker had allowed her brother into the management-only office with the safe in it. My friend did say something, but didn’t press the point since the co-worker insisted her brother was trustworthy. Turns out the guy had a prison record already 
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My friend had an extra-busy, extra-stressful day at work the day of the test, and wound up rushing to the polygraph appointment late. By the time the test started he was already flustered, stressed, and feeling guilty about what had happened. He was suspect #1 after that for a while until other factors pointed to the real culprit.
I always wonder what would have happened if the actual offender hadn’t already had a record.
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Next episode they can talk about how police can use dowsing rods to find corpses and psychics to track kidnappers.
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There’s a reason polygraph results are not admissible in court; they are not reliable and don’t actually measure a person’s “intent to deceive.”
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Agreed, lie detectors are pseudoscience. Penn & Teller Bullshit did a great episode on lie detectors.
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Also useful for dr phil and other talkshow hosts. I just saw a guy get grilled by an ‘fbi specialist’ about being a pedophile. I personally think he is, but going on about a lie detector test just… meh.
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My wife seems to have a really accurate built-in lie detector.
Don’t know how she always knows when I sneak a snack…
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