Fri Apr 6, 2012, 10:20 AM

Voice Stress Test on night of Trayvon's death "probably contributed to (Zimmerman's) release"

Police Gave George Zimmerman Voice Stress Test

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. at FindLaw.com

Fri Apr 6, 2012 1:07am EDT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/06/tagblogsfindlawcom2012-blotter-idUS214913966420120406

George Zimmerman's defense team is growing, suggesting that he's planning for a grand jury indictment and a subsequent criminal trial. Interestingly, his new attorney has begun releasing some previously unknown facts.

Did you know that, on the night of Trayvon Martin's death, Sanford police gave George Zimmerman a voice stress test? They did, and the results probably contributed to his release.

A voice stress test is like a polygraph, but instead of measuring heart rate and blood pressure, it looks for changes in an individual's voice patterns that are thought to suggest psychological stress. With the help of software, investigators record a suspect answering baseline questions and then compare them to answers about the case.

Expert opinion is mixed, but a study commissioned by the Justice Department suggests that a voice stress test is "no better than flipping a coin." For this reason, like its cousin the polygraph, George Zimmerman's voice stress test probably wouldn't be admissible at trial. However, it can still be used in the investigatory phase.

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11 replies	Author	Time	Post
Voice Stress Test on night of Trayvon's death "probably contributed to (Zimmerman's) release" (Original post)	Amerigo Vespucci	Apr 2012	OP
So was he stressed out after murdering a boy walking home	Rex	Apr 2012	#1
so, according to this--the police released him because he didn't indicate stress? so what does	niyad	Apr 2012	#2
He's a psychopath. But I was already pretty certain of that.	EOTE	Apr 2012	#3
lovely indeed. I knew decades ago that someone without a conscience could fool any lie detector	niyad	Apr 2012	#6
AND-- knew he had at least a 75% chance of poppyzimmy getting him off any bothersome charges	Ecumenist	Apr 2012	#4
exactly--if one has even been gotten off charges of threatening an officer--with force--	niyad	Apr 2012	#8
Voice stress test = every cop wanna be is going to pass more than any black person.	slampoet	Apr 2012	#5
Hell his dad probably called in the prescription for the voice test.	Schema Thing	Apr 2012	#7
Just have to wonder how many times their going to rewrite Zimmerman's story.....	wandy	Apr 2012	#9
A voice stress test, but no X-rays, bandages, etc?	tabatha	Apr 2012	#10
Yes...a voice stress test, but no x-rays, no bandages (or bandaids) and no drug test!	Cali_Democrat	Apr 2012	#11

Response to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 10:21 AM

Rex (34,650 posts)

1. So was he stressed out after murdering a boy walking home

from the local gas station?

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Response to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 10:42 AM

niyad (24,158 posts)

2. so, according to this--the police released him because he didn't indicate stress? so what does

that say about a person who, having just killed someone (regardless of reason) shows no stress at all?

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Response to niyad (Reply #2)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 10:44 AM

EOTE (12,133 posts)

3. He's a psychopath. But I was already pretty certain of that.

So basically, this test is a get out of jail free card for psychopaths. Lovely.

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Response to EOTE (Reply #3)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 11:18 AM

niyad (24,158 posts)

6. lovely indeed. I knew decades ago that someone without a conscience could fool any lie detector

and the same is obviously true for voice stress.

this, of course, assumes that the sanford pd really did do such a test--why is this the first we are hearing of it?

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Response to niyad (Reply #2)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 11:07 AM

Ecumenist (5,646 posts)

4. AND-- knew he had at least a 75% chance of poppyzimmy getting him off any bothersome charges

as he had so many times before.

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Response to Ecumenist (Reply #4)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 11:19 AM

niyad (24,158 posts)

8. exactly--if one has even been gotten off charges of threatening an officer--with force--

why would one worry?

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Response to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 11:18 AM

slampoet (5,032 posts)

5. Voice stress test = every cop wanna be is going to pass more than any black person.

Because this is about stress at the hands of the cops not stress at the time of the shooting.

This is the kind of stupidity we have in our police because we don't hire ANY police that score above 110 on the IQ test and we only hire certain personalities (the ones that can see other's POV)

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Response to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 11:18 AM

Schema Thing (8,571 posts)

7. Hell his dad probably called in the prescription for the voice test.

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Response to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 11:21 AM

wandy (1,531 posts)

9. Just have to wonder how many times their going to rewrite Zimmerman's story.....

It appears they will keep changing things to make George's story more believable in the face of overwhelming evidence that something else happened..
Will George eventually be painted a hero?
Are they trying to prove that this case justifies SYG laws?
Their are a lot of things that could have been brought out up front.
No I don't think it's bad police work.
Yes enhancing a video can produce bumps and scratches in the same way videos can be 'enhanced' for SiFi movies to show monsters from outer space.
I doubt we will ever know the real story.

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Response to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 01:26 PM

tabatha (18,795 posts)

10. A voice stress test, but no X-rays, bandages, etc?

Would the guilt of killing someone in cold blood not contribute to stress?

And there was no time taken to have a medical person confirm any so-called concussion, broken nose?

But there was time for a stress test?

Yup.

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Response to tabatha (Reply #10)

Fri Apr 6, 2012, 01:28 PM

Cali_Democrat (14,676 posts)

11. Yes...a voice stress test, but no x-rays, no bandages (or bandaids) and no drug test!

They have no medical records of a broken nose. They would have been releasing these documents if they had them.

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