Opinion ID: 1680893
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Weak Alibi Testimony

Text: ¶ 15. Marcia Thurman, Ransom's girlfriend, testified during the hearing on Ransom's motion for a new trial that McGrew used Ransom's car to drop her off at work at least by 10 a.m. and pick her up at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the robbery. In his dissent, Court of Appeals Judge Tyree Irving elaborated as follows: [Marcia] offered no insight as to whether McGrew kept the car the entire time during the interim. Neither did she have any specific recollection of that day. She based her testimony on what work schedule showed for that day. She testified that Ransom was at home mowing his mother's yard on the day of the robbery ... However, it is clear that she had no way of knowing what Ransom did on the day in question because [they were more than fourteen miles apart from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.]. She later acknowledged during direct examination that the source of her information as to Ransom's whereabouts on the day in question was Ransom himself. Ransom v. State, 918 So.2d 710, 716 (Irving, J., dissenting). Thurman testified that she did not see Ransom before she went to work. She testified that she started work between 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and worked until 4:30 p.m. Thurman stated that she could not recall seeing Ransom that day after work. Therefore, Thurman provides no alibi for the time that the robbery occurred at 1:30 p.m. ¶ 16. During the State's interviews with Ransom's mother and sister, their statements were very similar to each other. Both claimed that Ransom was home with them on the day of the robbery. However, his mother's statement added that the car [used in the robbery] had been missing for some time. Judge Irving stated: Ransom's mother and sister presumably would have testified that Ransom was at home all day, mowing the mother's yard all day. But, the mother would have also testified that the car used in the robbery had been missing for some time, thus contradicting Ransom's testimony that he had loaned his car to McGrew on the day in question. Id. at 717 (emphasis added). Therefore, had the mother testified, she would have contradicted Ransom's testimony that he allowed McGrew to borrow the vehicle that day. ¶ 17. To a lesser extent, the passage of time coupled with the absence of any record of activity also weakened Ransom's credibility and that of his witnesses. ¶ 18. Judge Irving stated in his dissent as follows: Prior to seeing himself [in a Most Wanted photo] in the newspaper in February 1998, he had not kept a record of his daily activities. He had no reason to do so; yet after he as arrested, he was able to recall exactly what he was doing six months earlier on September 15, 1997.... He is not able to cite a single event or occurrence which caused his whereabouts on that particular day to be memorialized for later recall. In the absence of some memorable event which aided Ransom's ability to recall his precise activity six months earlier, I do not think a jury would embrace his statement that he was mowing his mother's lawn. Id. at 715-16. ¶ 19. Ransom, his sister, mother and girlfriend all stated that he occasionally loaned his car to McGrew, and several times allowed McGrew to drive Ransom's girlfriend to work. However, the only proof that Ransom loaned the car to McGrew on the specific day in question was Ransom's testimony and that of his girlfriend, Marcia. Their credibility is severely diminished as Marcia and Ransom failed to explain how they remembered a specific event six months prior to testifying about the occasion. ¶ 20. Ransom testified at trial. When asked to produce any record to substantiate his presence at his mother's house on the day in question, Ransom produced nothing. Ransom recalled his whereabouts on that particular day, stating: The only thing that made me know where I was [on September 15, 1997] was because my girlfriend kept records of the day that  the dates that she was at work, and I knew I let [McGrew] drop her off several times at work. (emphasis added). ¶ 21. Ransom claims that he was at his mother's home based on the dates that his girlfriend worked. However, he did not explain how he remembered McGrew took his girlfriend to work in his car on this particular day. In his dissent Judge Irving concluded: I do not believe for one nanosecond that the disallowed evidence was so probative of Ransom's innocence that it can be said by a reviewing court that the refusal of the trial court to allow it constitutes an abuse of discretion. Id. at 718.