Alibis and Corroborators : Psychological, Criminological, and Legal Perspectives

Description

This book aims to increase understanding of alibis and corroborators, examining the role alibis play – or fail to play – in innocence cases. It analyses the factors that can influence the suspect, the defense team, the alibi corroborator, and ultimately the alibi statement itself. Recognition of and reactions to wrongful convictions have been on the rise as researchers and society take a closer, more critical look at America’s criminal justice system. In addition to serving as a complete review of the science, this volume discusses issues such as alibi generation; alibi believability; a proposed theory of alibis; international comparisons of issues in alibi corroboration; age and gender differences in alibi corroboration; attorney perceptions and use of alibi evidence; and erroneous alibis. Offering an in-depth, empirical view, this book will appeal to students and researchers interested in Criminology, Legal Psychology, Social Psychology, Law, and practitioners in our legal and criminal justice systems who are making tough decisions about this distinctive witness type. Preface Acknowledgments Acknowledgments by Joshua D. Behl Acknowledgments by Megan R. Kienzle Contents Editors and Contributors Editors Contributors Chapter 1: Alibis and Corroborators: Psychological, Criminological, and Legal Perspectives References Chapter 2: We Have to Start Somewhere: Classifying Alibis to Launch a Literature Introduction The Need for a Taxonomy The Creation of the Taxonomy Empirical Validity of and Updates to the Taxonomy Future Directions References Chapter 3: Generating Alibi Statements Richard Rosario The Literature on Alibi Generation The Alibi Taxonomy Person Evidence Herbert Alford Physical Evidence Types of Corroborators Types of Physical Evidence Generation of False Alibi Statements The Schemas of Alibi Generation The Courts and Generation of Alibis Conclusion References Chapter 4: Alibi Believability Alibi Corroborators Physical Alibi Evidence Alibi Consistency Contextual Factors Methodological Issues and Future Directions References Chapter 5: Towards a System Variable Approach to Improving the Quality of Alibi Evidence A Tripartite Classification of Alibi-Providing Suspects Strategy 1: Transforming Honest/Mistaken Suspects into Honest/Accurate Suspects Why Do Innocent Suspects Generate Mistaken Alibis? Improving Alibis by Reducing Reliance on Schemas Improving Alibis by Improving Memory for Disconfirming Information Strategy 2: Improve Honest/Accurate Suspects’ Abilities to Produce Corroborative Evidence Improving the Quality of Corroborative Person Evidence Improving the Quality of Corroborative Physical Evidence Strategy 3: Improving Evaluators’ Abilities to Discriminate Between Liars and Truth-Tellers Discriminating Between Honest and Deceptive Suspects Who Lack Person Corroborators Discriminating Between Truthful and Deceptive Suspects Who Have Person Corroborators Conclusions References Chapter 6: Alibi Assessment and Believability Across Different Legal Systems and Cultural Contexts Background: Alibi Assessment in Different Legal Systems Alibi Generation and Validation Alibi Evaluation and Discrimination A Case Study: John Travolta Alibi Evaluation in Inquisitorial and Adversarial Systems Different Systems or Different Research Participants? Conclusions References Chapter 7: Child Alibi Corroborators Cognitive Abilities Involved in Alibi Corroboration Motivation Perceptions of Children as Alibi Corroborators Implications for Investigations Future Directions Conclusion References Chapter 8: The Strategic Use of Alibi Defenses Introduction Part One: What Do We Mean by Alibi? Part Two: Alibi Notice Rules The History of Alibi Notice Statutes The Constitutionality of Alibi Notice Statutes Changing One’s Mind About Relying on an Alibi Part Three: Trial Litigation Issues Procuring a False Alibi Neglecting to Investigate or Present a Potential Alibi Conclusion Appendix: Alibi Notice Statutes/Rules References Chapter 9: The Effect of Erroneous Alibis Introduction The Problem of Erroneous Alibis What Does Erroneous Alibi Evidence Look Like? The Base Rate of Inaccurate Alibi Evidence Base Rates from Experiments Major Causes of Erroneous Alibi Evidence Unintentionally Erroneous Alibi Evidence Fallibility of Memory Reliance on Schemas Source Monitoring Errors Phenomenology of Innocence Coercive Interrogation Tactics Intentionally Erroneous Alibis False Alibis Evidence Desire to Conceal the Ugly (But Not Necessarily Illicit) Truth Absent Alibis Impact of Erroneous Alibis On the Magnitude of the Errors Cascading Effects of Erroneous Alibi Evidence Future Directions and Suggested Police Reforms Real-Life Versus Laboratory Study Differences Bringing Social Cognition to Alibi Research Safeguards Against Erroneous Alibis Addressing the Failure to Investigate References Chapter 10: Future Directions in Alibi Research Why Study Alibis? A Focus on Corroborators The Role of Defense Attorneys Race and Alibis The Role of the Evaluator Policy Prescriptions for Alibis and Corroborators References Appendix: Future Research Topics Alibi Taxonomy Alibi Generation Alibi Believability Alibi Theory Comparative Systems with Alibis Age and Alibi Defense Attorneys and Alibis Erroneous Alibis Race and Alibi Corroboration Public Policy Analysis Index