Jordoson, Caluri and Solan presented their research project, “Alibi Believability and Judicial Instructions: The Role of Inculpatory and Exculpatory Evidence,” at the 2022 Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.
Criminal Justice Studies minors Jeppe Overgaard Jordoson ‘23 and Grace Caluri ‘24, along with Sophie Solan ‘22 presented their research project, “Alibi Believability and Judicial Instructions: The Role of Inculpatory and Exculpatory Evidence,” at the 2022 Spring Undergraduate Research Forum on April 26.
The research project, mentored by Professor of Psychology and Director of Undergraduate Research Meredith Allison, used an online experimental vignette design to examine alibi believability. Specifically, they examined the impacts of exculpatory evidence, inculpatory evidence and judges’ instructions on alibi evidence on respondents’ evaluations of believability.
The researchers found that exculpatory evidence in the absence of prosecutors’ physical evidence increased alibi believability. Moreover, judges’ instructions had no effect on respondents’ evaluations of believability, consistent with prior studies that show that jurors largely ignore judges’ instructions.