Evidence of Polygraph NOT admissible in trial

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Evidence of Polygraph NOT admissible in trial
A Circuit Court judge on Monday ruled that the attorneys for a man accused of shooting an off-duty Norfolk police officer in 2010 won’t be allowed to submit polygraph test results as evidence.

The ruling is in line with a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld bans on polygraph evidence, Judge Stephen C. Mahan said in court. Virginia’s Rules of Evidence do not allow 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 determine the reliability of polygraph test results. Bouchard said the tests are supported by science.

“I think it’s an issue that’s ripe for consideration,” he said in court. “It’s an issue that needs to be addressed, and the scientific community needs to have a part in it.”

Their client, 22-year-old Raymond Perry, took a polygraph test this summer, saying he did not shoot off-duty Norfolk police Officer Victor Decker near the former Atlantis Gentleman’s Club the morning of Oct. 26, 2010, according to a polygraph examination report filed with the court. He also said he wasn’t present for the robbery and shooting near the Oceana Boulevard club, according to the report, which determined Perry was telling the truth.

Bouchard and Stanton will likely appeal Mahan’s decision. The polygraph results are an imperative part of Perry’s right to defend himself, Bouchard argued.

“It’s like the Supreme Court saying that we’re not going to allow DNA,” Bouchard said. “It’s wrong.”

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty for Perry, who’s charged with capital murder, first-degree murder, robbery and two counts of using a firearm.

Perry’s attorneys are working to take death off the table, including persuading Mahan on Monday to appoint and approve money to pay for a neuropsychologist to evaluate Perry. Stanton said they believe he is ineligible for the death penalty because of his IQ level.

State law does not allow execution of people who are mentally disabled, defined as someone who, before the age of 18, has “significantly subaverage intellectual functioning” and “significant limitations in adaptive behavior.” Stanton said a neuropsychologist will be able to make that determination for Perry.

Perry has a violent criminal record dating to the age of 10, according to federal court records. He is currently serving a 97-year federal prison sentence for a string of robberies here and in North Carolina committed the month 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.