I’m glad to hear the way things are headed. I hope you’ll keep us informed after the next stage. Best wishes.
A Pleasant & Cheerful birthday greeting to YOU sir! 
Hope the events of this day have been most agreeable.
Yes, we “Lucky 13” types are a special (or in my case: peculiar) breed. My birth occurred on a Friday, so I’ve a ready explanation for any incidental deviance from normalcy. Hey! Maybe I should’ve tried that line in court…
My attorney will not be present for the interrogation. In Michigan, this interrogation always follows a state administered polygraph exam, and according to my attorney, (a former police detective), police will, without telling you what your polygraph results were; use their “interview techniques” to compel you to confess. Since polygraph results, “good OR bad,” cannot be admitted as evidence in a trial, and participation in a polygraph exam is strictly voluntary, the interrogated does not have a right to have an attorney present. For the first time since this nightmare began, I’m actually looking forward to an upcoming interaction with the police. Then it’ll all be over… Aaaah.
If I was 17 the day I was born, I’d have dated that girl in the poodle skirt… 
Check the news? I don’t think “Cops arrest man for breaking window” is going to be making headlines in Detroit.
Just for the sake of perspective, the incident occurred in a small suburb north of Detroit. While the crime did “melt” down to a broken window, the original charge was Breaking & Entering a building with intent to commit larceny - a 10 year, $50,000 Felony. :eek:
I was VERY fortunate that our county newspaper opted to omit that police blotter entry from the “CrimeWatch” section on page 3A.
In the city of Detroit, a newsworthy headline would more likely be: “Man finds building window not broken - Claims all the rocks had been stolen…”
It’s so sad that all the beautiful art deco buildings in that town have deteriorated to the point of lost forever. Block after block of desterted buildings. Detroit doesn’t look very different from New Orleans. They can’t even tear down the dangerous crumbing buildings, for lack of funds.
That’s not how I recall it.
/rashomon
bdgr, I don’t know how long ago that happened to you, but in the 60s and 70s the cops in Texas were infamous for acting like this. I’m sorry it happened to you.
I don’t know how the police blotter works up there, but the only ones I’ve seen are incredibly generic. Would they have said anything more specific about you than “a local man”? When I made the front page of a student newspaper the morning after my marijuana possession arrest back in my first semester in college, the only information they gave about me was that I was a student living in one of the four dorm halls adjacent to where I was cited. (Granted, the focus of the article was the football players I was caught with, but most of the interesting stuff was about me as I was the one caught smoking it and I was the focus of the questioning.)
I think it has to do with how recent the arrest was. Police are often reluctant to release specific information to the press regarding things like this, but eventually it goes public, and the press can get it freely. Only when it’s a really famous person do they get the info immediately.
Yeah, I dated a few gals w/ “poodle skirts”, saddle shoes too. I was in the crowd w/ the leather M/C jackets and DA haircuts (think the Fonzie).
I hope you’ll update this after your 7 Feb. date w/ destiny?
Nobody’s looking forward to a happy ENDING more than I. Will keep posting ‘til it’s over. Haven’t responded to the insurance company’s demand for reimbursement yet, but I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to be a very polite response! The lie detector test & interrogation should be pretty cool. Knowing that vindication awaits, I’m anxious to “get it on!” Kind of a “Take THAT!” response. One thing that’s changed in my life is the prayer list addition of all the folks everywhere, who’ve suffered this situation with less than fair outcomes. I’ve been amazed at the number of postings, plus the horror stories (yeah, somethin’ like that happened to me too…) told me in real life. Policemen are NOT your friends; they are perfectly willing, and equally prone to be your adversaries.* I’m lucky that my nightmare is coming to an end without prison. Pray for the others.
- I know, there’s goodcops out there - but they all spook me now. No offense meant to law enforcement agents who are more professional in the execution of their duties than the one I had to deal with.
My suburb’s paper gives name, address, age, and exactly what it is you did. :eek: (Not that I’ve been featured, but it’s interesting seeing the neighbors’ teenagers’ drinking busts, the shoplifters at the local mall, etc.)
I’m glad that you dated some gals with poodle skirts and saddle shoes, though I have no idea what those things may be. I assume they were good.
And I think I’ll pass on the DA haircut, because the Fonzie sounds like an infection of some kind I’d rather avoid.
But the session didn’t really get off on the right foot. I had to take the polygraph at the jail where I’d been held prisoner on 12/13 October. The polygraph operator, unaware that I am still incredibly bitter about the scars my reputation undeservedly bears, was defending the police (jerk-ette) officer for her actions. He probably has to do that a lot. But he’s probably never had anybody tell him: “I know it only takes an Associates degree to be a cop, but she could’ve used what brains she had…!” I didn’t need a polygraph to determine his blood pressure had suddenly risen; his whole face promptly turned red while he did his best not to rise from his chair and throttle me on the spot. That was a pretty shitty remark, and it really didn’t serve my best interests. I keep trying to feel bad for saying it.
The entire session lasted 2.5 hours. The first 90 minutes were spent “developing the questions”. “We” were going to develop the questions I’d be asked during the polygraph exam. There was no “we”. HE developed the questions as he asked them during the <interrogation> pre-polygraph information session. Although I resented some of the questions, I dared not challenge them, lest he believe I was hiding something, and the session suddenly be ex-ten-ded. His “hidden” video camera was a cheesy looking thermostat cover that was so out of place and phony looking, anybody who’s ever worked in a commercial building would spot it right away. Oh, and then there was the horizontal file drawer labeled “Blank VHS Tapes”. I never let on that his covert observation was bloody obvious. He left the room several times. “Oops, my pen’s out of ink. Be right back.” 20 minutes later, he returned. There were a couple more lame excuses for leaving the office, then remaining absent for 10 minutes or so before returning. I’m sure that people intent on not being truthful present certain body language cues, and I’m hoping that staring directly into the <video camera> thermostat and smirking wasn’t one of them.
When it finally came time for the test, I was fitted with sensors that would measure the frequency and depth of my respiration - 1 sensor around my upper chest, 1 sensor around my upper abdomen. 2 clip sensors were placed on my fingers to measure my epidermal resistance. Finally a sphygmomanometer was employed to measure pulse rate and blood pressure. The only difficulty for me was sitting perfectly still (I tend to be animated when vehement) during each test. The same series of questions were directed 3 times, each test lasting approximately 8~10 minutes, depending on how long it took to establish a stable baseline of measurements between questions. I was directed to look “straight ahead” (into the <video camera> thermostat).
HOLY CRAP! I JUST STEPPED OUT ON THE PORCH, AND THERE’S 3 POLICE VEHICLES IN THE VERY IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF MY ARREST! :eek: NO SHIT! (it’s 11:15 p.m.) It looks like they’re raiding a house or something. One car is blocking the end of the street, an SUV is facing a house, blocking the driveway (and street), visibar & bright lights lighting up the scene, and one car is properly parked, lights out. That was frightening in an unexpectedly pathetic way. Scared to walk down my own street, and it’s not the crooks I’m afraid of!
Back to the polygraph. :::still shaking::: I’m not sure I remember all of the questions, but this is what I recall:
“Do you intend to truthfully answer all of the questions we’ve developed & discussed?”
“Is today Thursday?” (it was)
“Did you break & enter that building?”
“Are you confident I’m not going to ask you questions about anything we didn’t discuss?”
“Other than those items, did you ever shoplift anything?” (“Those items” were confessed to during the interrogation pre-polygraph information session. I’m 51 years old now. My shoplifting career piqued at age 13. I would’ve paid for the wine & cigarettes, but the clerk wouldn’t sell them to me.)
“Other than those items, did you ever steal from your parents?” (“Borrowed” dad’s car once when I was 15 <and paid dearly for it>, hit the penny jar for $3.00 when I was 9.)
"Did you break & enter the building at xx Street Address?
“Other than those items, have you ever stolen from an employer?” (Writing implements. Inadvertently.)
“Do you suspect anyone who may have broken into that building?”
“Do you know who broke into the building at xx Street Address?”
After the second test, he wrote the names of seven states on a sheet of paper. Michigan was circled. I was instructed to lie when he asked if I was in Michigan. Mini-test. I lied. I’m a lousy liar, and I know it. Fact is, I stammer badly if I try to speak while stressing. Og’s gift to keep me honest. Well, the operator brought back the printout strip, taking great pains to show me how my “measurements” graphed damn near off the chart. He’d wasted I don’t know how much time trying to convince me that any non-truthful statement was going to be detected. He wasted our time because I already knew that.
When it was finally over, he asked: “So, how do you think you did?” Thinking: You’ve got the f-ing machine - how do YOU think I did? I managed to modify that statement into: “Well, I told the truth…”
I expect to learn the results sometime before my court date next week.
To be continued…
Dick Cheney has done what many people would like to do: Shoot a lawyer and get away with it.
No offense, but you don’t by any chance want to go to jail for some reason, do you?
That you would freely consent to a polygraph (which I understand are highly unreliable) followed by a police interrogation without the presence of your attorney, and would even intentionally antagonize the test administrator, makes me wonder whether you appreciate what you may be facing. Did your defense attorney recommend going along with all this?
Absolutely. Except for the smart ass part (I kinda’ surprised myself on that one). I’ve been asking for this polygraph since day one. If you read my posts in this thread, you’ll note that I’m passionately maintaining my innocence.
I really DIDN’T do it. The way I wrote it is the way it happened. All I had to do was reiterate the truth.
This was actually the first opportunity I’ve had to tell my story to the police or the courts. Only my attorney knew the whole story. And you, the teeming millions, of course!
Absolutely my attorney is on board
NOT
Absolutely I want to go to jail… :smack:
I’m gonna’ predict the the PG results come back "inconclusive’ , “subject demonstated signs of deception”, and this thing is going to drag out for a long time. They’ll probably try to get you to cop to a lesser charge. I think taking the PG was a big mistake.
If you’re lying about the whole thing and you’re really guilty, then you must be having fun. If you’re sincere, then I think you’ve got a really bad lawyer and you’re going to regret not just keeping your mouth shut and letting them try to prove you guilty.
That was my take. Not to imply you are lying; for the sake of discussion I will assume you are, as you say, completely innocent. But the maxim “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear” is unfortunately not always true. You yourself mentioned the “horror stories” you had heard about other people’s prosecutions. Everyone in prison may be “innocent,” but truly innocent people are sent to prison sometimes. IANAL, but it sounds like you’re taking some unnecessary risks.
Hope it works out in the end for you.
I’m not a lawyer or a cop and I’m posting from the UK.
Over here, as far as I know, polygraph evidence is not admissable in court and you cannot be convicted on eye-witness evidence alone.
What is the law in the US?