Also known as: alibi witnesses
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A witness who testifies that the defendant was in a location other than the scene of the crime at the relevant time. The witness supplies factual support for an alibi defense by placing the defendant elsewhere during the alleged offense.
Albert Allen faces federal charges for an offense at a specific time and place. His counsel receives a proper written request for alibi notice but serves only a vague statement without naming Alice Atkins or providing her address and telephone number. At trial the prosecutor objects when counsel attempts to call Atkins to testify that Allen was elsewhere. The court sustains the objection and bars the testimony.
Andrew Avery is indicted years after the charged conduct. By the time of trial the only person who could have placed him at a distant location during the offense has died. The defense attempts to introduce other evidence of absence but lacks any living alibi witness. The court notes the prejudice from lost testimony in denying a speedy-trial claim.
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Audrey Ashton offers to take a polygraph to bolster her claim of innocence. The trial court excludes the test results but permits Alexandra Armstrong to testify that Ashton was at a different venue when the offense occurred. The alibi witness testimony proceeds unaffected by the polygraph ruling.
Ava Adebayo is shown photographs without counsel present. The defense later calls an alibi witness to establish that Adebayo was across town at the time of the crime. The court holds that the photographic procedure did not implicate the alibi witness or require counsel's presence for that testimony.
Atlas Ventures employees Albert Allen and Alice Atkins are tried together on related charges. Their single appointed lawyer declines to call an alibi witness who would exonerate Allen but implicate Atkins. The court finds the conflict deprived Allen of effective assistance regarding the alibi evidence.
During deliberations a juror makes derogatory remarks about the defendant's alibi witness based on ethnicity. After the verdict the defense obtains affidavits revealing the statements. The court considers whether the bias requires a new trial despite general limits on juror testimony.
The notice must identify each specific place where the defendant claims to have been and must list the name, address, and telephone number of every alibi witness the defendant intends to call. Written notice is required within fourteen days after a proper government request or any other court-set deadline.
The court may exclude the testimony of any undisclosed alibi witness. The sanction applies when the government has made a proper written request and the defense has not complied with the timing or content requirements, absent a showing of good cause.
No. A statement that the defendant was simply "not in the area" or that unnamed witnesses will confirm an alibi fails to identify the specific location and the required contact information for each witness. The court may exclude testimony offered in support of such an incomplete notice.
The rules require prompt supplemental disclosure of newly discovered witnesses. A court may permit the addition upon a showing of good cause, but an eve-of-trial filing without adequate justification typically results in exclusion of the additional witnesses.
…told defense counsel that, during deliberations, Juror H. C. had expressed anti-Hispanic bias toward petitioner and petitioner’s alibi witness. Counsel, with the trial court’s supervision, obtained affidavits from the two jurors describing a number of biased statements by H. C. The court acknowledged H. C.’s apparent bias but…