Attorney seeks results of lie detector test in slaying case
Just days before a Fayette County jury will hear evidence and decide if Debra Susan Payne had a hand in her husband’s 2003 death, her attorney Thursday filed a motion asking that prosecutors turn over results of a lie detector test he believes state police administered. Attorney Samuel Davis called releasing the report “critical to (Payne’s) preparation for her case.”
Payne allegedly shot Harold Payne in the head as he lay in bed at their 110 Orchid Drive, Grindstone, home on June 5, 2003.
Police initially viewed the man’s death as a suicide, but when test results showed gunshot residue on the sweatshirt Debra Payne was wearing that night, authorities charged her with criminal homicide.
When questioned by police, Payne denied involvement in her husband’s death and claimed he had drug and gambling problems.
Contacted Thursday afternoon, District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon said she was not certain there were polygraph results to give to Davis.
“At this point, I would have to check with the state police to see if they gave her one or not,” Vernon said.
While she agrees that the results of such a test should be turned over to Davis if a lie detector test was given, “it’s not admissible in court,” Vernon said.
The motion will be presented this morning in court before Judge Ralph C. Warman.