Law Grad Acquitted, Relies on Polygraph
A judge’s decision to admit the results of a polygraph exam may have helped a law school graduate win acquittal Monday in an Ohio sexual battery case.
Sahil Sharma had been charged for a sexual encounter with a woman after a wedding they attended in Cuyahoga Falls, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Sharma said the woman had consented; she said she was passed out from a heavy night of drinking at the time.
Judge Judy Hunter of Akron, Ohio, acquitted Sharma in a bench trial. She allowed Sharma to introduce the polygraph exam, the first time such evidence was used in an Ohio criminal trial in 30 years, according to a press release issued for the examiner, Louis Rovner.
Prosecutors had appealed Hunter’s decision to admit the test, but an Ohio appeals court said the issue was not ripe for review.
Sahil Sharma told the Cleveland Plain Dealer he will pursue a career in criminal defense as a result of this experience. The graduate of Touro College’s law school is awaiting the results of the New York bar exam.
