Panic attack blamed for polygraph delay

The assistant prosecutor said she doubts Adams will try to take the
lie-detector test again.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — A Boardman man who was scheduled to take a polygraph test Thursday to try to prove his innocence on rape charges suffered from anxiety throughout the day, after leaving home without his antidepressant medication, his attorney said.

Atty. Dennis DiMartino, representing Darryl Adams, 44, who is accused of raping a teen boy in his home between 2002 and 2004, drove Adams to the testing site at the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in Richfield, DiMartino said.

But before he arrived there, Adams told DiMartino he had forgotten to take his antidepressant medication while “rushing out of the house” and his heart was racing.

When they got to BCI, Adams was in a “state of anxiety” and couldn’t take the test, DiMartino said.

The lawyer will reschedule the test, but whether Adams takes it next time will depend on whether Michael LoPresti, a BCI test administrator, feels Adams is able to, DiMartino said.

LoPresti said he tests people with depression both on and off of their medication, DiMartino said. What counts is not the depression but how high or low they are when they take the test, he said.

When DiMartino brings Adams back, LoPresti will advise them whether Adams appears to be in the proper mood for the test, DiMartino said.

Doubtful prosecutor

Dawn Krueger, the assistant Mahoning County prosecutor who worked out a deal with Adams and DiMartino last month in which Adams would go free if he passed the test, said she doubted Adams would try to take the test again.

“He had a panic attack,” she said of Adams. “LoPresti said he didn’t think he would take the test again.”

Krueger said she would talk to Judge James C. Evans of common pleas court to decide the next step.

Krueger said LoPresti told her Adams was “shaking and said he felt sick” and then decided not to take the test.

Krueger said she did not expect Adams to pass the test and that few people charged with sex crimes volunteer to take a polygraph.

“In this case, I was just hoping it would trigger a plea agreement,” she said.

DiMartino said Adams has nothing to lose by taking the test and everything to gain.

“I’m still convinced that the test will show he has done nothing wrong, and the charges will be dismissed,” DiMartino said.

Adams was indicted on three rape charges that carry a sentence of three to 10 years in prison each if convicted.

The agreement between Adams and Krueger states that if Adams fails the polygraph test, he will plead guilty to a single rape count with the prosecution agreeing to recommend a four-year prison term

The agreement stipulates that if Adams fails the test and reneges on his plea deal, Krueger would be allowed to use the test results at trial to corroborate the accuser’s testimony.