Fagan v. State
| Docket Number: | 2001-CT-01336-SCT Linked Case(s): 2001-CT-01336-SCT ; 2001-CT-01336-SCT ; 2001-CT-01336-SCT ; 2001-KA-01336-COA ; 2001-KA-01336-COA |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 12-16-2004 Opinion Author: Carlson, J. Holding: Reversed and Remanded |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Embezzlement - Admission of polygraph evidence Judge(s) Concurring: Waller and Cobb, P.JJ., Graves, Dickinson and Randolph, JJ. Dissenting Author : Smith, C.J., and Easley, J. Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY Writ of Certiorari: Granted Appealed from Court of Appeals |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 08-23-2001 Appealed from: Clarke County Circuit Court Judge: Larry Eugene Roberts Disposition: Appellant was convicted on three counts of embezzlement. District Attorney: Bilbo Mitchell Case Number: 2001-CR-01 |
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| Note: | The supreme court found that repeated references to a polygraph examination were prejudicial in this close, circumstantial evidence case and, thus, the Appellant was deprived of a fair trial and reversed the judgments of the court of appeals and the circuit court and remanded the case for a new trial. | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Mary Lynn Fagan |
WILLIAM B. JACOB
JOSEPH A. KIERONSKI, JR.
DANIEL P. SELF, JR. |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: SCOTT STUART |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Embezzlement - Admission of polygraph evidence |
| Summary of the Facts: | Mary Fagan was convicted of three counts of embezzlement. She appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Fagan filed a petition for writ of certiorari which was granted. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The Court of Appeals’ plurality held that the prosecutor’s references to polygraph examinations and to the cooperation of other possible suspects were inadvertent and insignificant. Fagan argues that the repeated remarks made by the prosecutor regarding the other clerks’ willingness to take the polygraph examination is reversible error. Any evidence pertaining to a witness’s offer to take a polygraph, refusal to take a polygraph test, the fact that a witness took a polygraph test or the results of a polygraph test is inadmissible at trial by the State or by the defense. While reversal is not automatic for admission of such evidence, the court must consider the nature of the error and the circumstances attendant to its disclosure. This case was based entirely upon circumstantial evidence. Therefore, when the State, in violation of the trial court’s pre-trial order and over repeated defense objections which were sustained by the trial judge, elicited testimony from its key witness that the other suspects had cooperated, leading the jury most definitely to infer that they had passed polygraph examinations, the jury was allowed to consider inappropriate evidence in a case which was closely balanced before such testimony was elicited. Therefore, the judge erred in allowing the polygraph evidence. |
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