George Zimmerman Passed Police Lie Detector Test Day After

[roo_ster]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/george-zimmerman-lie-detector-421395

Well, I think I know one reason why he wasn;t chraged before the race hustlers got into gear.

A day after killing Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman passed a police lie detector test when asked if he confronted the teenager and whether he feared for his life “when you shot the guy,” according to documents released today by Florida prosecutors.

According to a “confidential report” prepared by the Sanford Police Department, Zimmerman, 28, willingly submitted to a computer voice stress analyzer (CVSA) “truth verification” on February 27.  Investigators concluded that he “has told substantially the complete truth in regards to this examination.”

Zimmerman, the report noted, “was classified as No Deception Indicated (NDI).”

Along with questions about whether his first name was George and if it was Monday, Zimmerman was asked, “Did you confront the guy you shot?’ He answered, “No.” He was also asked, “Were you in fear for your life, when you shot the guy.” Zimmerman replied, “Yes.”

Before the CVSA test, Zimmerman--who was apparently not accompanied by legal counsel--signed a Sanford Police Department release stating that he was undergoing the examination “voluntarily, without duress, coercion, threat or promise.”

The lie detector test was requested by Chris Serino, a homicide investigator with the Sanford Police Department.

[Jamie B]

Nice to see some good news for a change.

[RevDisk]

VSA's are not the most accurate test in the world. Neither are polygraphs, but eh. Polygraph's main function is to impress juries that watch too much TV, scare folks into telling the truth and/or allow good cop, bad cop with bad cop being a machine. Minus the first one, I don't have a problem per se with the other two.

I'm just dimly view a lot of forensics. Properly performed DNA tests are extremely airtight, because the science was not developed by forensics folks. The rest? Ye gods. Ballistic tests are extremely pseudoscience. Fingerprints can be surprisingly dim at times, and that's considered the silver standard of forensics (DNA being gold). The first actual scientific test was done in 1995 (?!) by Collaborative Testing Service for International Association for Identification. The overall accuracy was 44%. I know some of the world's best computer forensics folks. Short story long, don't EVER trust computer forensics unless it conveniently supports your position.

It's a plus not because VSA is worth anything, but because it's proof that the Sanford Police actually DID do something. I'm not sure that's useful, because the media has made "let go without any investigation" the Truthiness.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

vsa's no good?  i got pretty good results with an old one before i loaned it out

[RevDisk]

vsa's no good?  i got pretty good results with an old one before i loaned it out

I didn't say it's no good, if you mean "worthless". I'm just stating it should not be taken as guaranteed, proven accurate in a scientifically provable fashion.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

we were using them in "pass/fail "mode  usually one or 2 questions  hypothetically "are you a cop?"

[roo_ster]

RevDisk:

I am in agreement with most of what you wrote. 

I would add that most people have no clue how weak & thin forensic "science" is.  I am making an assumption here, but I suspect GZ is among the aforementioned "most people" and that he likely thought that the test was valid.  I also assume that he would not have volunteered for it had he thought himself the aggressor or it would show him in a bad light.

CSD:

Hmm, were you hoping to one day use it on your daughters' prospective suitors?

<read your response>

Oh, I see....

[HankB]

Since he passed the test, it will be deemed irrelevant and unreliable.

If he'd failed, it would be conclusive and damning evidence that he was a murderous racist.

[Tallpine]

Since he passed the test, it will be deemed irrelevant and unreliable.

If he'd failed, it would be conclusive and damning evidence that he was a murderous racist.

He is obviously so coldly evil that he can fool a lie detector 

[freakazoid]

Since he passed the test, it will be deemed irrelevant and unreliable.

If he'd failed, it would be conclusive and damning evidence that he was a murderous racist.

+1