What is Necessary To Use An Alibi Defense?
This is a very tricky area of the law that is not easy to pull off. To succeed with the alibi defense, someone needs to get on the witness stand at trial and testify.
If that person does or says anything that is not believable, not only will the alibi defense fail, the case could be destroyed along with it! If, on the other hand, there is strong evidence that the defendant was somewhere else when the crime occurred, this is some of the best evidence that can be used to undermine the prosecutor's case.
If the client has to testify to pull off the defense, it is even more dangerous. Therefore, before I permit one of my clients to assert this defense, I will go over every aspect of the case related to the alibi defense and make sure it is airtight or simply will not use the reason.
Further, to use an alibi defense, you must give the prosecution notice and all the witnesses and evidence you intend to use. If a criminal defense attorney tries to catch the prosecutor off guard and spring the alibi defense on them, they do so at their client's peril. A reasonable prosecutor can object and ask the judge to keep the evidence out for failure to comply with the discovery rules.
If you believe that you have a solid alibi defense related to a pending criminal case, please give me a call and set up a free face-to-face appointment. I can give you the benefit of my 25 years of experience, and we can genuinely evaluate the case from the ground up.
If the defense is good, we can determine how to investigate best, work up and utilize it. If the reason is weak, at least you will know, and you can begin to think of other angles to defend your case successfully.
Best Evidence to Support an Alibi Defense
There are many different forms that the alibi defense can take shape in a criminal case pending in Los Angeles County. Of course, if there is video evidence of the defendant at a different location than the crime, this is probably the best evidence available to the defense.
This is why it is essential to pinpoint when the alleged crime occurred before actually seeking to assert the alibi defense. The prosecutors are often intentionally vague about when the crime occurred, making it challenging to maintain the defense.
Witnesses who saw the defendant at a different location than the crime at the time of the crime are indeed a form of the alibi defense. Of course, if the witnesses have a direct connection or alliance to the defendant, they are not as effective as an independent witness who does not know the defendant.
Records from a person's employment and receipts of the person being at different locations far from the crime scene are other forms of alibi defense that can be utilized.
Another thing that must be kept in mind if you want to assert the alibi defense is that once you tell the prosecutors that you are going to use it and turn over the information that you have that supports the reason, they are then going to contact the investigating police officer on the case and have them check out the evidence and try and find evidence to refute your defense.
In the process of doing this, if they can find additional evidence you were involved in the crime, then the defense can backfire. This is why it is so important to have a seasoned criminal defense attorney review everything. Call the Hedding Law Firm for help.
