Supreme Court of Wisconsin

Upholds CVSA Confession

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin has upheld the conviction of Keith Davis for first-degree sexual assault of a child and his sentence of twenty years in prison (Case No. 2006AP1954-CR).  Mr. Davis was suspected of sexually assaulting a child and was asked by Green Bay Police Detective James Swanson to take a CVSA exam concerning the allegations.  Mr. Davis agreed and took the CVSA.  The CVSA was administered by Det./Analyst Buenning of the Green Bay P.D.  Following the CVSA exam, Det. Buenning explained the CVSA charts to Mr. Davis and explained that the CVSA indicated that he had been deceptive on the relevant questions concerning the child molestation.   Det. Swanson then continued the interview.  During the course of the interview with Det. Swanson, Mr. Davis admitted that he had lied and in fact, did sexually molest the child. 

After his conviction, Mr. Davis filed an appeal and asked for a new trial on the grounds that the admissions should have been suppressed.  In its opinion, the court found that “Voice stress analysis and polygraph testing have been used by law enforcement for years” and “Similar to polygraph testing, a voice stress analysis is based upon the theory that an individual undergoes certain physiological changes when being deceitful.”  “As a result, when being subjected to voice stress analysis, these changes can presumably be monitored and interpreted.”  “We see no reason at this time to treat these two methods of ‘honesty testing’ differently.”

Mr. Davis is now serving his twenty-year sentence.