Rachel’s PhD drew on a range of research topics including criminal justice, international and comparative criminal law, social media, trial by media and legal history. She completed her LLB at the University of Sussex minoring in American Studies, where she participated in a year abroad at UC Berkeley in California. Rachel also completed her LLM at Sussex, specialising in International Criminal Law.
Prior to joining the University of Exeter, Rachel was a Lecturer in Law at the Mauritius branch of the University of Aberystwyth. There she lectured a variety of subjects including criminal law, criminology, public law and legal systems. She also taught land law and criminal law at the University of Sussex as a Graduate Associate Tutor.
Research Interests
Rachel’s research considers the impact of social media on the criminal justice system. She is particularly interested in how eyewitness footage can alter perceptions of guilt and the role of the defendant, both for domestic trials and trials at the international criminal law level. Rachel also researches crime news and the trial by media phenomenon. Her research also looks at legal history to better understand the impact of these new technological phenomenons on the criminal justice process.
Select Outputs
R. Gimson. “Captured Red Handed: The Impact of Social Media on the Evolving Concepts of the Criminal Defendant and the Presumption of Innocence.” PhD Thesis. University of Sussex, 2017.
Select Conference Appearances
“Locking the Stable Door After the Horse has Bolted: The Problems with Maintaining the Presumption of Innocence in a Social Media Era,” Sociology and Social Media: Problems and Prospects, Goldsmiths University, London, UK, 2 December 2017.
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