State v. Porter
Supreme Court of Connecticut
698 A.2d 739 (Conn. 1997)
Christian Porter's home in Norwich, Connecticut, was destroyed by a fire on July 20, 1992, and he was charged with two counts of arson in the first degree. Before trial, Porter retained a polygrapher to administer a polygraph examination covering whether he had set the fire, whether he had lied to Norwich police, and whether he knew if anyone else had deliberately set it; he did not give the state advance notice of the examination. At trial, the court refused to admit the favorable polygraph results and denied Porter's request for an evidentiary hearing to make an offer of proof on those results, citing Connecticut's long-standing rule treating polygraph evidence as per se inadmissible. Following a jury trial at which Porter did not testify, he was convicted of arson in the first degree.
Whether polygraph evidence, even if relevant, is admissible when its probative value is substantially outweighed by its unfairly prejudicial effect.