Changed Alibis

Abstract

Despite numerous calls for more research on alibis, there remain many unanswered questions. Three experiments tested the beliefs about and behaviors toward criminal suspects who changed or maintained their alibi statements. In Experiments 1 (N = 350) and 2 (N = 211), participants included current law enforcement officers, criminal justice and psychology undergraduate students who intended to enter law enforcement (future law enforcement officers), and those students who did not intend to do so (laypersons). Only students were used in Experiment 3 (N = 423). Alibi statements were changed (strengthened or weakened) or were maintained in all studies. Results showed that groups had more favorable beliefs about and behaviors toward those alibi statements that were maintained than those that were changed. This research suggests that any lapse in memory for one's timeline of events could prove detrimental to the suspect.

A Lie and a Mistress: On Increasing the Believability of Your Alibi

“…The strength of the supportive evidence is still an important factor in determining alibi believability (Jung et al, 2013), but we now know that other factors also play a role. Recently, it came to light that the salaciousness of the alibi and whether or not the alibi has been changed also affect its believability, regardless of the strength of the evidence (Allison et al, 2012;Culhane & Hosch, 2012). The results of the present study show that the relationship is even more complex.…”

“…Laypeople, undergraduate students, and police officers believe that a true alibi should remain consistent over time (Burke et al, 2007;Culhane & Hosch, 2012;Dysart & Strange, 2012). However, in several cases an innocent man has been convicted merely based upon reporting a false alibi due to misrecollection.…”

“…Also, an innocent suspect may just have no memory of what he or she was doing, simply because of being unaware that a crime was committed at that particular time (Kassam, Gilbert, Swencionis, & Wilson, 2009). If a suspect reports an incorrect alibi and changes his or her alibi or the supportive evidence, it always results in a decrease in alibi believability (Culhane & Hosch, 2012). The reasons why a suspect changes an alibi can be diverse.…”

“…These alibis were either presented immediately (unchanged) or presented after the suspect presented an incorrect alibi (changed). Besides an honest mistake as a reason for changing the initial alibi (Culhane & Hosch, 2012), we have added a lie as a second reason why the initial alibi was incorrect. A lie was chosen since most of the senior law enforcement personnel believe that a change in the suspect's alibi means that the suspect was lying before (Dysart & Strange, 2012).…”

“…It was first thought that only the strength of the supportive evidence was of importance in determining alibi believability (Olson & Wells, 2004). However, it has become clear that other factors can affect alibi believability, such as the context in which the alibi is first presented (Sommers & Douglass, 2007), the race of the defendant (Sargent & Bradfield, 2004), prior convictions of the defendant (Allison & Brimacombe, 2010), whether or not the presented alibi is salacious (Allison et al, 2012;Allison, Jung, Sweeney, & Culhane, 2014;Jung et al, 2013), and whether or not the presented alibi remains unchanged (Culhane & Hosch, 2012). When an alibi or the supportive evidence for it is changed, this leads to a decrease in alibi believability, even when the supportive evidence becomes stronger according to the taxonomy of Olson and Wells (2004), compared to when the strength of the evidence is maintained (Culhane & Hosch, 2012).…”