Taking the test: What to expect

Those showing deception often confess after the test, an examiner says.

AKRON — The Truth & Law Center is a free-standing, one-story office building featuring a blend of technology, law, psychology and physiology.

What happens inside, where the examinee is interviewed and attached to the polygraph equipment, could be a life-changing event.

Examinees put their fate in the hands of William D. Evans II, a lawyer and former Summit County Sheriff’s Department detective, who has been administering polygraph exams for 30 years.

“We like to try to relax the person coming in as much as we can,” Evans said. Soft rock music is piped into the waiting room, but not into the exam room, where distractions must be minimized.

To break the ice, several framed drawings of the Disney figure Pinocchio adorn an exam-room wall.

Lawyers, police and other authorized people may watch exams on a closed-circuit TV in a conference room near the exam room.

A pretest interview covers the biographical history and case facts relevant to the exam and ascertains physical or psychological issues that may require adjustments in the exam, Evans said.

The exam compares the body’s reactions to control questions, such as: “Is today Friday?” and questions relevant to the investigation. The polygraph is best suited to questions that take a “yes” or “no” answer, Evans said.

What’s measured

On Evans’ computer screen, the green line shows the examinee’s respiration patterns, including oxygen intake, breathing rate, duration and volume and heart beat as measured by tubes wrapped around the examinee’s upper and lower chest.

The red line shows upper and lower blood pressure as measured by a blood pressure cuff.

The yellow line records the opening and closing of sweat glands as measured by plates attached to the examinee’s fingers.

Evans said questions in a murder investigation polygraph might be:

U Do you know for sure who murdered Jane Lyons?

U Did you murder Jane Lyons?

U Did you help murder Jane Lyons?

U Can you take me to the Jane Lyons murder weapon?

In the post-test interview, the examiner asks the examinee why he or she reacted in a certain way. An examinee “may very well confess” to a crime when asked why he or she showed deception in response to a question relevant to the crime, Evans said.

A typical pre-employment exam for an applicant for a security-sensitive job takes 11⁄2 to two hours, including the pre- and post-test interviews, and Evans said he typically charges $200 to $350 for that. A criminal case exam could take two to four hours, depending on the case complexity, and the bill could run $650 to $1,200, Evans said.

Evans conducts exams in his office and on the road, visiting the Mahoning Valley frequently to test for local police and prosecutor’s offices.