Alibi Defense

The occurrence of this offense took place March 2, 2000, beginning at approximately 2:30 pm and concluding at 2:55pm. During this time, Mr. Hogan was with his friend and roommate (Crawford) driving from their apartment in Aurora, to Excel Institute, (a private Christian School) to pick up Crawford's four-year old son at 3: OOpm. It was a daily routine, Monday through Friday, for Mr. Hogan to accompany Crawford to the school to pick up his son, and even at times Hogan would pick him up without Crawford. (CD 12/2111, p.37). While the school day doesn't end until 3:30pm, often times, Hogan and Crawford would arrive early to speak with Pastor Bowman, the superintendent of the school about repairs needed on the locks around the school.

Hogan and Crawford had their own business consisting of installing locks and door hardware for commercial and residential properties along with re-key and repair. Pastor Bowman was very supportive of their startup company and gave them various jobs around the school. Both Hogan and Crawford were very active in the school.

Mr. Hogan told his attorneys about his alibi, however, his attorneys failed to investigate it and any of the alibi witnesses he had muned, such as Ms. Smith and Pastor Bowman. Eleven years later from the date of this offense, Mr. Hogan was granted an evidentiary hearing for an ineffective assistance claim regarding the failure to interview alibi witnesses which was held on 12/2/2011.

At the hearing, Ms. Smith, an employee at the school and one of the people named in his alibi corroborated Mr. Hogan's alibi in several respects, including both, being with Crawford when picking up his son, and the "friendly relationship" he had with Pastor Bowman, the Superintendent of the school. Unfortunately, due to the large passage of time, she could not remember specific details such as if Hogan and Crawford picked his son up on March 2, 2000 at 3:00pm. She testified that if a child were picked up before 3:30pm, documentation would be prepared by school staff, (CD 12/2/11, p37-38). However, due to the large passage of time the old school records had long been destroyed and she was unable to check if on March 2, 2000, Crawford’s son was picked up from school at that time. (Id. 38)

Had Mr. Hogan's attorney investigated the alibi back in the year 2000, and spoken with Ms. Smith, the information that the Pastor knew Mr. Hogan and perhaps had even spoken to him on the day of the crime would have been discovered then, and perhaps the Pastor could have taken the stand in Mr. Hogan's defense. Furthermore, · had his attorney investigated his alibi, and sought the records of the school back in 2000, the records would have still been in existence, and the alibi could have been verified. The fact that this investigation did not happen was catastrophic to Mr. Hogan and greatly prejudiced him.

His attorney argued at the hearing that Hogan never mentioned an alibi, however, his alibi was in the attorney's handwritten notes in the record/court file, thus confirming that his alibi was just flat out ignored. Based on this fact alone, the court concluded that Hogan's attorney was ineffective and did fall below the standard of reasonableness. However, despite the deficiency of representation by his attorney, and the corroborating testimony of Ms. Smith, the court ruled that the attorney's deficiency and the testimony provided at the hearing didn't prove that Mr. Hogan was prejudiced, and that the outcome of the trial would not have been different had this alibi been introduced. A determination that could not be made or substantiated without presenting it to a jury.