The test will be conducted by BCI in Richfield.

The test will be conducted by BCI in Richfield.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — No one in the business of crime and courts has been able to give a convincing argument that the polygraph test is a reliable measure of truth or guilt.

A jury of our peers, while still imperfect, more commonly has been the measure of one’s guilt or innocence.

Darryl Adams, 44, however, is gambling a polygraph, not his peers, will be a better judge.

On Thursday, it’s freedom or up to four years in prison for Adams.

It’s a roll of the dice that Adams’ attorney, Dennis DiMartino, said is justified in this case.

“A forensic test, if it’s applied under the appropriate and fair conditions, should result in the truth emerging. That is: He didn’t commit the acts as alleged,” said DiMartino, who would not make Adams available for this story.

Adams is unemployed and suffers from depression, said DiMartino, giving him concern about his client’s ability to make it through a trial, which would likely last three days.

SUBHEAD

Adams is charged with raping a teenage boy — a crime police say happened in Adams’ Boardman residence between 2002 and 2004. Authorities say the alleged sexual activity took place when the Youngstown boy was between the ages of 14 and 16. He is now 19.

Officials claim Adams used his status as a youth pastor in the boy’s church to molest the teenager.

He was arrested at his home in April 2005, the day after he was indicted. After five days in Mahoning County Jail, he was released on $50,000 bond.

Adams also voluntarily left the church, which he had attended since he was 5, DiMartino said.

Adams has maintained his innocence.

(Subhead) The deal

Under an agreement approved by Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Adams will be examined Thursday by Michael LoPresti, a polygraph administrator at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in Richfield, who has been giving these exams for more than two decades.

Polygraphs are admissible in Ohio criminal cases only when the prosecution, defense and judge agree to their admissibility. The parties agreed to the polygraph and the plea agreement May 29 as the case was heading to jury trial.

If Adams passes that lie-detector test, Dawn Krueger, assistant county prosecutor, has agreed to drop the charges, and they cannot be refiled.

If he fails the polygraph, Adams has agreed to plead guilty to a single rape count, with the prosecution agreeing to recommend a four-year prison term and drop the other two rape counts.

Adams could have faced three to 10 years in prison on each count.

There are also contingencies if Adams reneges on the plea deal or if the test is inconclusive.

“We can use the polygraph against him in trial” to corroborate the alleged victim’s testimony, if Adams fails the test and doesn’t follow through with the plea agreement, Krueger said.

If the outcome of the polygraph is inconclusive, another plea agreement could be negotiated, or the case could go to trial.

(Subhead) Why this path

The prosecution’s case against Adams is fraught with problems, including the lack of witnesses, other than the alleged victim, and delayed and indirect reporting of the allegations, DiMartino said.

“The alleged victim wasn’t the one who reported it. The alleged victim’s brother, who was in juvenile lockup, told the alleged victim’s mother,” DiMartino said.

In July 2004, the boy in detention told his mother the reason his brother was acting strangely was that he was raped two or three days earlier. The mother reported that to the Mahoning County Children Services Board, DiMartino said.

The alleged victim recalled it differently, however. “It never went through my brother. I told my mother directly. I don’t know what happened after that point,” the 19-year-old said.

A CSB worker interviewed the boys’ mother at her residence and referred the case to the sheriff’s office, which began investigating the case in January 2005, DiMartino said.

In taking the test, DiMartino said Adams avoids the risk of being convicted in a jury trial and the state saves the time and expense of a trial.

“I’m convinced he’s absolutely innocent of these charges,” DiMartino said, adding that he believes the examination is in Adams’ best legal interests. “I’m optimistic that the polygraph will prove that he’s telling the truth, that he had no involvement and didn’t rape anybody.”