March 01, 2005

Attorney says priest accused in nun's death didn't fail polygraph

TOLEDO (OH)
Beacon Journal

JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio - An attorney who once represented a Roman Catholic priest accused of killing a nun in 1980 said claims that the priest failed a lie detector test were wrong.

The attorney, Henry Herschel, sought on Tuesday to dispute court documents released a day earlier that included allegations that the Rev. Gerald Robinson failed one of two polygraph tests days after the killing.

The priest took two tests and the first one produced results that could not determine whether Robinson was telling the truth, Herschel said.

The examiner who gave the test noted that Robinson needed to be in a calmer state, Herschel said, adding that Robinson had just spent several hours being questioned by police.

Another examiner who administered the second test a few months later determined that Robinson was probably telling the truth, Herschel said.

According to a court document filed by investigators, Robinson failed the first test and passed the second one.

Posted by kshaw at March 1, 2005 04:42 PM