Does Prejudice Result If a Remark Regarding Polygraph Test Is Made but Striken Off the Record and the Jury Is Instructed Regarding It ?

In Commonwealth v. Rhone, 422 Pa. Super. 521, 619 A.2d 1080 (Pa.Super. 1993), a Commonwealth witness testified that he asked the defendant whether the defendant would like to take a polygraph exam. This single utterance was the only reference made to the polygraph throughout the entire proceeding. On appeal, we determined that no prejudice resulted from the reference made to the polygraph test. Rhone, 619 A.2d at 1084. The Court agreed with the trial court that the Commonwealth's witness' error was innocent and did not raise an inference as to the guilt of the defendant. Id. In addition, the Court observed that "the trial court's striking of the remark from the record and subsequent instruction to the jury regarding stricken remarks insured that no prejudice resulted." Id.