I Was Wrongly Arrested for Armed Bank Robbery Because I am a Tall, Black Man

[dickthegrouch]

15. I've always wondered how lie detectors tell the difference between

a real liar who is nervous and an innocent person who *really needs* to be believed.
It is almost impossible IMHO to devise a control test which will work. People who are lying to create the so-called control group have no real skin in the game. Someone who is actually lying to try to protect themselves from jail has a much different reaction. Someone who is desperate to be believed in the face of extreme hostility and 'absolute certainty' by the cops that they've got the correct person (even in the face of significant contra-indicators), is likely to show the same reaction.

I wouldn't trust a lie detector as far as I could throw it.