Who "passed" those polygraph tests?

The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's editor John Robinson mentions on his blog today that all of the Greensboro City Council members who took a polygraph test over who leaked the RMA report "passed" the lie detector test. To his credit, and for good reason, Robinson puts "passed" in quotation marks.

Let us remember, the results of these tests were verbally self-reported by each test subject to then-Mayor Keith Holliday who then relayed them to the public.

A subsequent records request by yours truly for the records of the actual tests came up short when City attorney Jemiah Watterman first claimed that the polygrapher said he did not have any records then, when confronted with the polygrapher's statement that he did have records, the City failed to request those records from him on this citizen's behalf.

Instead, the City invited the council subjects to consent to have the polygrapher prepare a report summarizing in writing the results of that individual's "test."

Three council persons consented and there is a written summary from the polygrapher that says they "passed" (i.e. did not "show deception" when asked if they leaked the RMA report). Those who consented and who the polygrapher reported as having passed were:

Yvonne Johnson
Mike Barber
Sandra Anderson-Groat

Five other council people did not give their consent to have the polygrapher prepare a report of their test, so there is no record that they passed other than Keith Holliday's account of what he says they said their results were. Those who did not consent to a written report were:

Keith Holliday
Tom Phillips
Florence Gatten
Sandy Carmany
Goldie Wells

T. Dianne Bellamy Small says she did not leak the RMA report, but would not take a polygraph exam. Five of her colleagues say that they passed a polygraph test but would not consent to a report of their results. I don't see the difference.

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