Jury Instructions About the Credibility of Defense Alibi Witnesses

In People v. Tucker, 101 Misc2d 660, 421 N.Y.S.2d 792 (County Court, Suffolk County 1979), the court found that the credibility of the defense alibi witnesses became an issue as a result of the information that was disclosed during the prosecutor's cross-examination, i.e., that the four witness had "embarked upon a spree covering three states and involving indiscriminate drug abuse and multiple larcenies." Therefore, the court held, "the jury should have been instructed that the burden of proof of guilt never shifts from the People and that even if after analyzing the evidence given in behalf of the defendant the jury came to the conclusion that it was false, no inference of guilt could be drawn from the jury's disbelief." Tucker, supra at 663.