Glynn County police like voice stress lie detector; others not so sure

BRUNSWICK - Glynn County police have become true believers in a new sort of lie detector that analyzes stress in a suspect&#39;s voice, but other police departments are not convinced. <br> <br> The Computer Voice Stress Analyzer helped snare William David Tatro, who was convicted earlier this month for killing his wife and burying her in a garden in his front yard. <br> <br> Tatro initially told police two different versions of what happened to his wife, Yukie Tatro. <br> <br> Glynn police Sgt. Chip Anderson said Tatro first told them he ``didn&#39;t know where his wife was, that she (had) driven away in her car.&#39;&#39; He then agreed to answer questions about her disappearance on the voice stress test. <br> <br> ``Mr. Tatro changed his story after we confronted him with results of his voice stress test, which showed that he had been deceptive in his statements about her disappearance. That&#39;s when he told us that he killed her accidentally,&#39;&#39; Anderson said. <br> <br> Yukie Tatro&#39;s decomposed body was found Oct. 5, 2000. William David Tatro is awaiting sentencing. <br> <br> Jurors never heard any testimony about the voice stress test, but Anderson said it was ``an important tool&#39;&#39; leading investigators to Yukie Tatro&#39;s body and her killer. <br> <br> ``It bolstered our feeling that (William Tatro) knew more about her disappearance than he was saying, and it showed us that we were going in the right direction with our investigation,&#39;&#39; Anderson said. <br> <br> About 1,200 law enforcement agencies nationwide use the voice stress test, including 38 in Georgia and 124 in Florida. <br> <br> The instrument uses a special computer program to detect, measure and analyze the micro-frequency modulations in a person&#39;s voice. The frequency changes can be used to determine lying or truthfulness, police said. <br> <br> But neither voice stress analysis, nor the more traditional polygraph tests are admissible in court as evidence in Georgia, Florida or federal courts, authorities said. <br> <br> Glynn County public defender Timothy Barton said the analyzer shouldn&#39;t be used as evidence because, like a polygraph, it hasn&#39;t been proved scientifically accurate. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s a crude tool, but it&#39;s a tool. I&#39;ve got no problem with it as an investigative tool, as long as the police don&#39;t use it to trick people,&#39;&#39; Barton said. ``We want the truth as much as the police do. If it helps get at the truth then I&#39;m for it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> But some law enforcement agencies refuse to use it, saying the voice stress analyzer just doesn&#39;t work. <br> <br> ``Ours is in the closet,&#39;&#39; said detective Kevin Carver of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Sheriff&#39;s Office, a certified polygraph examiner. ``It doesn&#39;t work. The theory behind it doesn&#39;t work. We&#39;ve never used it on a case.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He said a polygraph is more accurate, reliable and rooted in real science, while the voice stress analyzer is ``no better than a flip of a coin.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The National Institute for Truth Verification, a West Palm Beach, Fla., company, is the only manufacturer and distributor of the $9,950 voice stress analyzer. It began marketing the instrument in 1988 to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/194560