Opinion ID: 2150043
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Restriction on Alibi Testimony.

Text: Defendant contends that the trial court committed reversible error by restricting his ability to present alibi testimony. After defendant filed a notice of alibi, the prosecution filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude alibi evidence. Following a hearing, the trial court granted the State's motion. We find no error here for two reasons. First, defendant did not file his notice of alibi until long after the deadline imposed by Indiana Code § 35-36-4-3(b) (1988). [22] In fact, the notice was not filed until two days before trial. While we do not disagree with the defendant when he contends that the deadlines imposed in the alibi notice statute cannot be enforced so as to deny a defendant due process of law and a fair trial, we find nothing unreasonable in the trial court's restrictions on the eleventh hour alibi defense presented here. Not only was the prospect of an alibi defense not offered until the last minute, the defendant gave no reason for the delay, and the only information in the alibi notice was that the defendant was at his residence on the date of the crime. In similar circumstances we have held it proper to exclude alibi evidence. See Adkins v. State (1989), Ind., 532 N.E.2d 6, 8; Baxter v. State (1988), Ind. 522 N.E.2d 362, 369, reh'g denied. Second, while there were two hearings during which the alibi issue was discussed, on neither occasion did the trial court prohibit the introduction of alibi evidence. Instead, the trial court ordered the defense to seek the court's permission outside the presence of the jury before doing so. On appeal, the defendant does not contend that he sought such permission and we find no evidence in the record that he did so. In Bieghler v. State (1985), Ind., 481 N.E.2d 78, reh'g denied, cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1031, 106 S.Ct. 1241, 89 L.Ed.2d 349 (1986), we held that when the trial court grants the State's motion in limine and the defendant fails to make an offer of proof during trial, the defendant has not preserved for appellate review any alleged error pertaining to that evidence. Id. at 93.