By Mrs. Eileen Hunter — about the author.
On May 6, 2001 — two days after his arrest on a charge of unauthorized use of a rental truck — Tony Hunter was interviewed by Detective Harris at the Ouachita Correctional Center in Monroe. He was read and waived his Miranda rights. According to the account of that interview in the application filed December 30, 2022 (R. 182), he told the detective that he did not know Levi Williams or the two children, that he had never been to 221 Greenwood Drive, and that he “had five of his own children and would never hurt a child.” He offered to take a lie detector test. (The case.)
The offer never reached the jury. Its exclusion was one of five assignments of error on direct appeal, and the Louisiana Second Circuit affirmed. State v. Hunter, 39,664 (La. App. 2 Cir. 6/29/05); 907 So. 2d 200. Two days after the interview, on May 8, 2001, Brenda Graves confirmed to investigators that Mr. Hunter had been at her March-birthdays party with his daughter until about 7:30 p.m. on March 10. R. 185. (The alibi file · case timeline.)
The other half: polygraph results, and offers to take one, are generally inadmissible in Louisiana courts; the exclusion followed that rule, and the appeal so held. Mr. Hunter did not testify at trial and made no inculpatory statement; the State’s case rested on the three jailhouse informants, and he was not indicted until October 17, 2002. (Procedural history.)
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