Pennsylvania v. Knoble (majority)
Annotate this CaseIn February, 2005, Appellee David Knoble entered an open guilty plea to charges of endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors, and criminal conspiracy to commit statutory assault, admitting he conspired with his then-wife for her to engage in sexual intercourse with his 14-year-old son while he observed. He was sentenced to an aggregate term of one to two years imprisonment followed by four years probation and was ordered to comply with any special probation conditions imposed by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. One condition required successful completion of a sex offender outpatient program; Appellee was advised that termination from or unsuccessful completion of the program would constitute a probation violation. Six months into his probationary term, Appellee was terminated from the program for dishonesty during his sexual history therapeutic polygraph tests and was arrested for violating his probation. Following a hearing, the court revoked Appellee's probation and sentenced him on his underlying offenses. The Superior Court reversed, concluding the questions posed during the polygraph tests improperly required Appellee to answer incriminating questions that would result in the divulgence of previously unreported criminal behavior. The Supreme Court granted allocatur to determine "[w]hether the Superior Court erred in concluding a probationer may invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination for an unrelated offense, regardless of whether the information will be used in subsequent criminal proceedings, and whether such invocation must be made at the time of interrogation." The Court concluded that the therapeutic polygraphs did not inherently violate the Fifth Amendment. Participation in a therapeutic polygraph examination does not fall within the exception to the general rule that the Fifth Amendment protection must be raised or waived. Accordingly, a probationer who agrees to submit to such an exam as a condition of his probation may raise his Fifth Amendment privilege prior to submitting to the examination or when answering polygraph questions regarding uncharged criminal actions; however, the probationer waives his right to such protection if he does not invoke it upon questioning. Because Appellee failed to raise his Fifth Amendment privilege, his statements given during his therapy could be used against him.
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