Evidence of Polygraph NOT admissible in trial

http://emporia-virginia-lawyers.com/emporia-va-speeding-ticket-attorneys
Evidence of Polygraph NOT admissible in trial
A Circuit Court judge on Monday ruled that the attorneys for a gentleman accused of shooting an off-duty Norfolk police officer in 2010 won’t be allowed to submit polygraph examination final results as evidence.

The ruling is in line with a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court selection that upheld bans on polygraph evidence, Judge Stephen C. Mahan mentioned in court. Virginia’s Principles of Evidence do not enable it.

Attorneys David Bouchard and Jennifer Stanton filed a motion earlier this month asking Mahan to reconsider the ban. They also asked in court for a hearing to decide the reliability of polygraph examination final results. Bouchard mentioned the assessments are supported by science.

“I feel it’s an concern that’s ripe for consideration,” he mentioned in court. “It’s an concern that wants to be resolved, and the scientific local community wants to have a element in it.”

Their customer, 22-12 months-outdated Raymond Perry, took a polygraph examination this summer season, declaring he did not shoot off-duty Norfolk police Officer Victor Decker around the former Atlantis Gentleman’s Club the morning of Oct. 26, 2010, according to a polygraph examination report filed with the court. He also mentioned he wasn’t present for the robbery and shooting around the Oceana Boulevard club, according to the report, which decided Perry was telling the fact.

Bouchard and Stanton will probably charm Mahan’s selection. The polygraph final results are an essential element of Perry’s proper to defend himself, Bouchard argued.

“It’s like the Supreme Court declaring that we’re not going to enable DNA,” Bouchard mentioned. “It’s improper.”

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Place of work is searching for the demise penalty for Perry, who’s charged with funds murder, very first-degree murder, robbery and two counts of making use of a firearm.

Perry’s attorneys are functioning to get demise off the table, which includes persuading Mahan on Monday to appoint and approve funds to pay out for a neuropsychologist to consider Perry. Stanton mentioned they feel he is ineligible for the demise penalty since of his IQ stage.

State law does not enable execution of folks who are mentally disabled, defined as a person who, just before the age of 18, has “significantly subaverage intellectual functioning” and “significant constraints in adaptive habits.” Stanton mentioned a neuropsychologist will be capable to make that willpower for Perry.

Perry has a violent felony file dating to the age of 10, according to federal court data. He is at present serving a 97-12 months federal prison sentence for a string of robberies listed here and in North Carolina committed the month just before Decker’s slaying.

A jury trial is scheduled for February, but Perry’s attorneys have requested a continuance. A new trial date has not been set.