One evening, a burglar broke into a large Dallas home and quickly deactivated the alarm. He walked straight from the downstairs window up to the master bedroom. Once there, he opened a bunch of drawers and started taking items of value from the room. He found rings, wedding bands, gold necklaces, and other items. He then spent the next two minutes taking everything of value that was in his sight. After ransacking the place, the man slipped out the window that he came in and vanished into the night.
Late that night, the family returned home from a trip to Chicago. After a fun-filled few days in the Windy City, they were devastated to return home to the wreckage in their home. Immediately, the father called the police. The police arrived and took statements. They viewed the damage and asked the family to make a list of lost valuables. They also asked for and received a copy of the surveillance video.
The police left and returned to the station. At the station, they viewed the surveillance video and noticed a man wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, and boots. His face was covered by a ski mask. A professional from the video department looked at the video and determined that the man in the video was a white male.
At this point, the police suspected a neighbor who would have known that the family was away for a few days. They researched more of the neighborhood and determined that one neighbor fit the description. The mom told police that a neighbor’s wife constantly complained to the mom that the neighbor’s wife, unlike the mom, did not have fancy jewelry or such a nice house.
Using this information, the police targeted the neighbor and discovered that he had a past of petty crime. He had some shoplifting charges and domestic dispute claims. The police came to his house and asked to speak with him. When the neighbor came to the door, he started yelling at the police, calling them names and said they were performing a witch hunt against him. Based on this, the police arrested him and took him away. He was later arraigned and charged with burglary. He countered by pleading not guilty.
A good defense in this case would be to call someone as an alibi to state that the neighbor was not present at the time of the crime. To successfully use an alibi defense, the defendant must show that it was highly improbable or impossible that the defendant was in the neighborhood or comitted the crime at the time the crime was alleged to have taken place. The larger the range of when the crime could have occurred, the stronger the alibi evidence must be.
Note that a court may consider the credibility of the alibi when determining alibi defense. Often, a witness testifying to be an alibi will face grueling questions on cross examination.
Accused of a crime? You need a strong advocate on your side. Contact the law firm of Christopher Abel, a board-certified criminal defense attorney.
(image courtesy of Adam Birkett)