In the first letter I have received from Jessica Cooper is dated November 13, 2009 following the one and only meeting with the Oakland County Task Force on October 27, 2009. In this letter she states as follows:
“In addition, the publicizing of some information, such as that related to polygraphs is actually a crime.”
On November 13, 2009, I had no information that Ted Lamborgine, Christopher Busch or Vince Gunnels had been polygraphed. Therefore, I assumed that the quotation was related to the polygraph that Lawrence Wasser/Christopher Busch which was discussed in Chapter 21. It is my understanding that Wasser never commenced the Busch polygraph. I did not understand why any reference to their conversation was a crime under the polygraph statute. If any prosecutor or criminal lawyer reviewing this chapter has legal authority to the contrary, I would appreciate having this brought to my attention.
Imagine my surprise when I received the Michigan State Police reports on December 15, 2010. The report contained newspaper articles which L Brooks Patterson, then the Oakland County Prosecutor, was quoted as saying that Chris Busch was not a suspect in the Mark Stebbins murder because he had passed a polygraph test. The MSP reports also indicated that Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor, Richard Thompson, was present at Busch’s polygraph presumably to determine if Gregory Greene and/or Busch were involved in the murder of Mark Stebbins, the first victim.
On November 13, 2009 was Cooper warning me that any reference to the Wasser/ Busch polygraph, which was never taken, was a crime while the statute provides some exemption to prosecutors? Am I entitled to an explanation from Jessica Cooper why her office is entitled to publicize polygraph information while I or any other victim is not?