Ala. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) ALIBI

Alibi

The defendant has offered evidence that he/she could not have committed the

crime because he/she was someplace else at the time the crime was committed. That is

called an alibi defense.

It is up to the State of Alabama to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable

doubt, which includes all the elements of the crime, including the defendant’s presence

at a stated place and the defendant’s committing or participating in certain acts at that

place at a given time. The alibi evidence that the defendant has placed before you seeks

to convince you that the defendant was elsewhere at the time and therefore could not

possibly have committed the acts charged. Whether the defendant was or was not

present at the scene of the crime, and therefore could or could not have done what the

defendant has been charged with doing, is for you to decide, considering all the facts in

the case.

The defendant does not have to prove his/her claim that he/she was elsewhere. If,

on considering all the evidence, there arises in your minds a reasonable doubt as to the

defendant’s presence at the scene of the crime when it was committed, then the

defendant is entitled to be found not guilty.

The State of Alabama has offered evidence tending to disprove the alibi. This

evidence is submitted to you to consider along with all the evidence to decide the truth

and your verdict. If you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the

alibi evidence is false, then you may consider this as a circumstance against the

defendant in connection with all the evidence in the case.

If the alibi evidence, when considered with all the other evidence in this case, does

not rise to a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt, and you are otherwise convinced

beyond a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt, then you shall find the defendant

guilty.

On the other hand, if the alibi evidence, when considered with all the other

evidence in this case, rises to a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt or if the State

of Alabama has failed to prove any one or more of the other elements of the crime, then

you cannot find the defendant guilty.