Joelle Ogletree

Retired FBI Polygrapher William K. Teigen

Did you lie to me today when you told me that you have had sexual relations with Joelle Ogletree?

Today when you told me about having sexual contact with Joelle Ogletree in her classroom, were you lying to me?

When you say to me today that you and Joelle Ogletree touched each other's genitals, is that statement to me a lie?

Bill Teigen polygraphing Chayce Wilson

Note absence of activity sensor tracing

Matthew Brooks

Did you ever experience touching for sexual purposes with Joelle Ogletree?

Did Joelle ever touch your penis with her hand?

Jack Trimarco polygraphing Matt Brooks

Note that both pneumo tubes are around the subject's abdomen!

Trimarco doesn't use a sensor pad either

Jack Trimarco: Dr. Phil, may I? Matt, were you one hundred percent honest with me today on that polygraph?



Matt Brooks: Yes, Jack. Yes I was.



Trimarco: And when I asked you, "Not in connection with this case, have you ever lied to get out of trouble?" what did you tell me? Was that the truth?



Brooks: That's the truth.



Trimarco: Not in connection with this case, have you ever lied to someone who loved or trusted you?



Brooks: No.



Trimarco: And that's the truth?



Brooks: That's the truth.



Trimarco: And not in connection with this case, have you ever lied about anything really important?



Brooks: No.



Dr. Phil: You're the first person I've ever met that can say no to those three questions, including me....

Jack Trimarco questioning Matt Brooks about the "control" questions

Theshow kicked off November sweeps with a titillating two-part series featuring allegations of sexual misconduct and lie detector "tests." Titled "Teacher Sex Scandal," the series aired 1-2 November 2007 and centered around the case of Joelle Marie Ogletree, a Glen Rose, Texas high school French teacher who was fired in 2002 and later criminally prosecuted after three students alleged that she had engaged in sexual acts with them. (A comment by "beinformed" on the Somervell County Salon blog alleges that all three boys passed polygraph tests at the time.) A mistrial was declared when one of the students recanted his allegations, and charges were dismissed. In 2006, the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings cleared Ogletree of all allegations of sexual misconduct in rejecting a motion by the staff of the Texas Education Agency to revoke her teaching license. ( See attached decision .)One of Ogletree's accusers was willing to speak with theshow and submit to a lie detector test on the condition that his name and face not be aired. However, as reported by the Somervell County Salon blog , the accuser's name is Chayce Wilson. Theshow hired retired FBI polygrapher William K. Teigen of Dallas to conduct the polygraph test:Teigen asked Wilson the following relevant questions:Teigen found Chayce Wilson deceptive with regard to all three relevant questions. Wilson, however, in a recorded telephone conversation with Dr. Phil McGraw, maintained his truthfulness.On a side note, it also apparent that Teigen, who uses a computerized Axciton polygraph instrument, did not use a sensor pad or strain gauge, devices that are increasingly used in an attempt to detect polygraph countermeasures.Chayce Wilson agreed to meet with Teigen to discuss the results, perhaps foreshadowing a follow-up episode to come.Dr. Phil mentions that he had invited Joelle Ogletree to take a polygraph test, but that she had declined. Ogletree's lawyer explained her refusal saying that she had already been cleared of the accusations and had previously passed a polygraph test.In the second part of the two-part series (which was filmed the same day as the first), a second accuser, Matthew Brooks (whose last name was not mentioned on the show), came on the show:Brooks was administered a polygraph examination by retired FBI polygrapher Jack Trimarco , who asked the following relevant questions:Trimarco judged Brooks deceptive with regard to both relevant questions.Despite Trimarco's accusation of deception, Brooks continued to maintain his truthfulness. In an apparent attempt to impeach Brooks' credibility, Trimarco interrupted to interrogate Brooks about the probable-lie control questions that he used in the polygraph examination. Control questions are ones to which polygraphers secretly expect all examinees to lie -- even those who answer the relevant questions truthfully. Polygraphers typically maneuver examinees into a denial and cut off admissions. (For a fuller explanation, see Chapter 3 ofSo it is intellectually dishonest to use an examinee's denials in response to control questions to impeach the examinee's credibility with regard to relevant questions.In the end, as in previousepisodes, polygraph testing, which in any event has no scientific basis , provided no resolution of the issues involved in the case. Given the available case documentation, it is not surprising that Teigen and Trimarco would have respectively found Wilson and Brooks to be deceptive. But if both of the latter (not to mention the 3rd accuser who recanted) earlierlie detector tests regarding their accusations, what does this tell us about the reliability of the polygraph?Dr. Phil McGraw does the public a disservice by suggesting that lie detector testing is somehow to be relied upon in such matters. His use of the lie detector -- almost always in connection with unsubstantiated allegations of a sexual nature -- is a transparent ratings gimmick.For commentary on otherlie detector episodes see: