In criminal law, an alibi defense is when an accused person asserts that someone can vouch that he or she was with them, somewhere else, instead of committing the crime(s) charged to the defendant.
But merely claiming that a particular person can vouch for a defendant’s whereabouts does not make the prosecution’s case disappear. When the authorities learn that a person may have knowledge as to the defendant’s actual whereabouts at the time of a crime, the authorities can be expected to speak with that individual. After the authorities have spoken with the alibi witness, they will decide whether the alibi witness is believable enough to forego prosecuting the defendant. But such a process is subjective, and if the authorities doubt the story given by the alibi witness, they could very well disregard that person and continue with their case against the defendant.
Alibi Witness Testimonials and Evidence
Just because the authorities doubt a potential alibi witness, it does not mean that such a person’s personal knowledge cannot help the defendant later on. Likewise, an alibi witness might not ever come to the attention of the authorities prior to trial. In such instances, a criminal defense attorney can play a critical role is obtaining and presenting alibi testimony.
For instance, the defendant’s attorney can use investigators and possibly discover the identify of a previously unknown alibi witness. Furthermore, the defendant’s lawyer can make their own assessment of an alibi witness, and if the witness seems believable, then the defense lawyer can attempt to get the case dismissed prior to trial. (This would accomplished by filing a motion to dismiss, and then having the alibi witness testify at the motion hearing). Getting the criminal charges dismissed prior to trial will save the defendant time, money and as expected, much stress.
Getting Charges Dismissed Pre Trial vs Court Case
If the knowledge of an alibi witness is unable to get the charges dismissed prior to trial, a defense attorney can still call that person as a witness at trial in order to undermine the prosecution’s case. Of course, skilled defense counsel will inquire into an alibi witness’ background before trial, so as to deal with any potential issues that the prosecution might try to bring up on cross-examination. (For instance, has the alibi witness ever been convicted of crime that shows dishonesty, or do they have some personal stake in the outcome of the trial?). If the jury (or in a bench trial, the judge) believes the alibi witness, then the defendant will be found not guilty.
Thus, in order to ensure that prospective alibi witnesses are located, evaluated and their information provided to the fact finder in such a way so as to produce a favorable outcome at trial, a criminal defendant would be well served by obtaining capable legal counsel.
