Adrian Peterson has made his first public comment since Wednesday, when the Vikings cast him aside as a result of widespread outrage following his indictment on charges of injuring his son. And his comment is that he asked for a polygraph test.
Peterson wrote on Twitter that he made the polygraph test and added, “Share that as well!” in an apparent belief that it’s an important part of the story that has been publicly overlooked.
!Note,I requested the Polygraph. Share that as well! May The Lord continue to Bless U All. #EPD#NoWeapon
— Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) September 19, 2014
It’s unclear why Peterson thinks that’s an important thing to share. A polygraph, or lie detector, is not particularly reliable and is not admissible in court. It’s also irrelevant to a case like Peterson’s, where the accused has already admitted what he did: Peterson acknowledged both to the police and through a statement released by his attorney that he beat his son with a switch, causing cuts and bruises to his son’s legs, back, buttocks and scrotum. The question a jury will ultimately settle is whether that constitutes negligent or reckless injury to a child under Texas law, not whether Peterson is telling the truth about what happened.
So let’s assume that Peterson asked for a polygraph because he wants to show he is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the “whooping” he says he gave his son. That changes nothing about the fact that the “whooping” left his son injured.