Investigating and Presenting an Alibi Defense

Abstract

The New Jersey Supreme Court has said that “few defenses have greater potential for creating reasonable doubt as to a defendant's guilt in the minds of the [jurors than an alibi].” But is alibi a powerful defense, or a risky gambit with a high likelihood of backfiring? In two-thirds of exoneration cases, the innocent defendant offered an alibi defense at trial which was rejected by the fact-finder. This article talks about alibi defenses from psychological research into the defendant's autobiographical memory and investigator tactics in the interrogation room, to alibi witnesses' memory and susceptibility to post-event information, to expected cross-examination and other courtroom issues.