JUDGE WILL NOT PERMIT LIE-DETECTOR OPERATOR TO TESTIFY IN MURDER TRIAL
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 20, 1922, Chief Justice Walter I. McCoy* "over-ruled all efforts...to place on the witness stand Dr. William M. Marston** of American University, operator of the 'truth-meter.'"
So the lie-detector*** "will not be used in the murder trial of James Alphonso Frye...charged with killing Dr. Robert W. Brown...two years ago."
Justice McCoy does not believe the lie-detector "has been developed to the point where its use should be permitted in a court of law." He left open the possibility that one day in the future that situation might change.
*Walter Irving McCoy (1859-1933) was born in Troy, New York & graduated from Harvard Law School. WIM served in U.S. Congress 1913-1914, Associate Justice 1914-1918 & Chief Justice 1918-1929 Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
**William Moulton Marston (1893-1947) was born in Saugus, Massachusetts. WMM was the inventor of an early prototype of the lie-detector.
***Lie-Detector, a.k.a. polygraph, measures & records physiological indicators while a person is asked & answers questions.
The polygraph was invented by John A. Larson in 1921 & is used in only a few countries, U.S., Canada, Israel & Japan. Today, polygraph tests are still not admissible as evidence in court.
JFK+50 NOTE
William M. Moulton not only invented the lie-detector, he was also a comic book writer who developed the character 'Wonder Woman,' and that is no lie.
I have had a polygraph test once in my life. It was required to be hired as a part-time employee of Radio Shack in the 1980s.
SOURCE
"Bar Lie-Detector At Murder Trial," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 20, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
