I Didn’t Do it! I Have An Alibi!

You may find yourself arrested for a crime that occurred at a time you were somewhere else completely at the same time the crime was being committed!  There is a special procedure to handle this situation in Florida criminal courts and its important that those procedures are followed or it could result in your evidence not being used at trial.

In Florida pursuant to Rule 3.200, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, upon the written demand of the prosecuting attorney, a defendant in a criminal case who intends to offer evidence of an alibi in their defense must file a Notice of Alibi with the Court and serve it on the prosecutor no less than 10 days before trial.

The demand from the prosecutor will include the place, date and time of the commission of the crime charged as is known to the prosecutor.

The Notice of Alibi must contain specific information as to the place at which the defendant claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense.  It must also include the names and addresses of witnesses by whom the defendant proposes to establish the alibi.

Within 5 days, the prosecutor must file and serve on defendant the names and addresses of the witnesses the state proposes to offer in rebuttal to discredit the defendant’s alibi at trial.

It is very important your attorney files the Notice of Alibi or the court may exclude evidence offered by you about your alibi except your own testimony, and it may not be in your best interest to testify a trial.

If there is a discovery violation, the Court would conduct a “Richardson hearing” to determine 1) whether the discovery violation was willful or inadvertent; 2) whether it was trivial or substantial; and 3) whether it had a prejudicial effect on the opposing party’s trial preparation.  Only for good cause shown can a Court waive the requirements of Rule 3.200.  See Richardson v. State, 246 So.2d 771 (Fla. 1971); rehearing denied May 7, 1971.

You need an experienced Jacksonville criminal lawyer to handle the rules of discovery in a criminal case, especially when you have an alibi defense.  Contact the Law Office of David M. Goldman, PLLC for a consultation.