Alibi

General Questions
#1

Hello Everyone,

I was just reading the thread about not talking to the cops and having an alibi was mentioned. I realize that having one can certainly mean the difference between being a suspect or not being one. However, how many people can actually remember what they were doing two Saturdays ago at 2:03pm? I mean yeah, I can probably give you a “I guess I was at Walmart doing at that time”, but since I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday I really doubt that I could say exactly what i was doing two weeks ago. Wouldn’t being unsure of your whereabouts point to guilt or would be very specific look like your trying to cover something up?

#2

I would think many people could tell you where they were a lot of the week. For most of my week, I could tell you whom I was with and what we were talking about, especially if I could see my appointment book.

#3

It wouldn’t help you much, probably, even if you could state an alibi. Why would they believe you?

In order to have an alibi that would really hold up, you need to be able to document it, or at least have witnesses to support you. For example, if you tend to leave your shopping receipts laying around, you could show them that you really were at Walmart two Saturdays ago at 2:03 p.m. To prove that it was really you, it would help even more if you paid by credit or debit card, which the receipt will show.

If you spoke to anyone on your cell phone, you might be able to get the GPS records to show where you were.

This could cut both ways. What if you called someone on your cell phone, or went to Walmart, and just about then there really was a nearby bank robbery, and you somehow became the prime suspect? Then your alibi is suddenly an anti-alibi, confirming your presence near the scene, tending to further incriminate you. Now try talking your way out of that.

ETA: If O. J. Simpson’s car had GPS tracking, his 9-month trial would have been over, one way or the other, in one day.

#4

You might be best to be very general anyway. With direct and passive electronic surveillance (phone records, Wifi logins, road/street/business security cameras) If you give someone a general idea of where you were there are probably lots of ways to fill in the gaps.
Perhaps the more detail you give the greater the chance of it varying from the provable reality and how would that play?

#5

Even in this situation, keep your mouth shut. Why? Well, if you say “I think I was at Walmart”, and they find evidence that showed you hadn’t gone to Walmart in days, suddenly they will play that tape during the trial as an example of your “inconsistent answers”. Those inconsistent answers, plus showing you could have been at the crime is almost enough to convict right there.