THE PLEA OF ALIBI THROUGH CASES AND LAWS

WHAT IS ALIBI?

HOW IS IT RAISED?

WHEN IS IT RAISED?

CAN IT BE RAISED DURING TRIAL?

ALIBI V CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT.

WHAT IS ALIBI

In the case of AZEEZ V STATE : Alibi means that the accused was somewhere other than where the prosecution says he was at the time of the commission of the offence making it impossible for him to have committed or participated in the commission of the offence with which he was charged.

HOW IS IT RAISED

In AZEEZ V STATE: A plea of Alibi must be properly raised and this is done when the accused person not only state that he was not at the scene of crime but somewhere else but goes further to satisfy the evidential burden on him by giving particulars of the other place which he claim to be at the the offence was committed. This he must do by naming the persons he was with and who could testify that he was there at the time.

Where he fails to give particulars of the place he was at the time of the commission of the offence charged, the names of those who were with him(if any) and the time they were together he is said not to have properly raised ALIBI

WHEN IS IT RAISED

In MOHAMMED V STATE: The right time to raise the plea of ALIBI is as soon as the suspect is apprehended by the police or other law enforcement agent.

In HASSAN V STATE: An accused person raising the defense of ALIBI must do so at an earliest stage in order to afford the police to verify or confirm the truth or otherwise of the plea.

CAN IT BE RAISED DURING TRIAL

The general rule from the aforementioned cases is that ALIBI should be raised during pr

e-trial investigation. However, where it is raised during trial, the position of the law in the case of IBRAHIM V STATE: The onus of proof is on him to prove his alibi, the court will weigh the evidence adduced by the prosecution and the evidence adduced by the Prosecution side by side and where the prosecution evidence is weightier his defense of ALIBI is disregarded. Interestingly, OGOALA V STATE; the court held that where an accused person raises the plea of ALIBI the onus is on the prosecution to disprove the alibi raised by;

·         Showing directly that the accused person was wrong in his claim to have been at another place during the commission of the offence.

·         By calling evidence so strong and connecting the accused person with the commission of the offence charged that his defense of alibi can’t be true.

ALIBI V CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT

The two are very different. Confessional statement states or suggests that the accused committed the offence WHILE Alibi tends to show that the accused was somewhere else.

In OGOALA V STATE: the position of the law is that where a confessional statement is made by an accused person admitting the commission of an offence charged and the statement being gotten voluntarily, the plea of alibi is completely shut out and abandoned  if it was ever made