Q: Are polygraph tests admissible in court in lower Alabama and child abuse allegation cases

A: Polygraph results are not generally admissible in any court in Alabama. They are not generally considered reliable evidence. Under certain rigid circumstances opposing parties may stipulate that polygraph results are admissible, but the judge has the discretion to allow or refuse the stipulated evidence. That does not mean that state agencies and employers do not seek to use them occasionally, or that private opposing parties cannot use them by agreement outside of court, but no one can force anyone to take a polygraph test. If the defendant has not been arrested and law enforcement states that the investigation has been concluded and the case has not been turned over to the grand jury that may mean that law enforcement has concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to take the case to the grand jury, but it may also mean that they do have sufficient evidence and just have not gotten around to taking the case to the grand jury.

If you or the person you are inquiring about is innocent of child abuse and wishes to convince a family member or friend of their innocence then he or she may engage a private polygraph examiner and take the test and present the results to their family or friends for consideration. That may or may not work. There are over 100 licensed polygraph examiners in Alabama, some of whom are in lower Alabama.

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