If you’re trying to convince a jury of your innocence, it may help to tell the truth about where you were at the time of a crime – especially if your story bubbles with juicy details, according to a paper by Kyla Mathews '09, an Elon University alum who won the top prize for her research this summer in a national contest.
“Alibi believability: The impact of salacious alibi activities” took first place honors in the 2009 Best Undergraduate Paper competition sponsored by the American Psychology-Law Society.
As part of the award, Mathews has been invited to Vancouver, Canada, in March to present her findings at the association’s next annual meeting.
The Quakertown, Pa., native wrote her paper based on research conducted with assistant professor of psychology Meredith Allison and Stephen Michael ’08. The team is preparing a manuscript for publication in an academic, peer-reviewed journal. Mathews is quick to insist that her findings should be replicated in future experiments before broad conclusions are made.
“There are many aspects of alibis that should be considered – when they’re revealed, who reveals them, and how they’re revealed,” said Mathews, who plans to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology. “Details like these can change the way a jury views a suspect. It’s surprising that alibi research is so scarce considering their importance in criminal cases.”
Two hundred and twenty-six study participants were asked to rate alibi believability based on a mock interview transcript between a police investigator and a suspect from a described convenience story robbery-homicide in which $1,000 cash was taken.
Three variables were measured: strength of alibi, salaciousness of the alibi, and the credibility of a corroborating witness. In some instances, study participants read that the “suspect” told police he had been watching a pornographic flick. Another group read how the suspect told police he had been watching a regular movie at the time the crime took place.
Turns out that the naughty flick did more for the fictional suspect who told police about the pornography. Participants gave him higher marks for believability. The research team expected the opposite, since bad or socially questionable behavior has, until now, been thought to give observers negative impressions of a person.
“Maybe admitting to being involved in activities that you wouldn’t want to share with people can actually benefit you in the courtroom. Maybe jury members will see you as a very honest person,” Mathews said of her work. “Who would share this information unless it was true?”
The spring presentation in Vancouver wouldn’t be the first for Mathews. She traveled to Wisconsin in April for the 23rd National Conference on Undergraduate Research to share findings from the same project. Mathews was awarded a Rawls Scholarship from Elon University for her work.
“She was a fantastic student in my class, so I approached her and asked if she would be interested in doing alibi research with me,” Allison said of her former student. “Alibi research is really in its infancy. There’s so much already on eyewitness reliability and how people remember events. … There are lots of reasons why lawyers want to know more about alibis.”
