Court Opinion

ID: 9692686
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:00:45.629309+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:36.082432
License: Public Domain

Murphy, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). I concur in the result reached by the majority because the evidence of defendant’s guilt is overwhelming and any error worked by the lower court’s reading of the notice of alibi was harmless. I write separately, however, to express my view *198that a defendant’s notice of alibi should rarely, if ever, be read to the jury.
The defense attorney in this case, pursuant to statute, MCL 768.20; MSA 28.1043, filed a notice of alibi. The notice listed two alibi witnesses, Darwin Halsey of 1424 South St. Louis, Chicago, Illinois, first-floor apartment, and Diane Holmes of 1424 South St. Louis, Chicago, Illinois, basement apartment. The notice also stated:
That defendant claims he was between Kellogg Regional Airport, Battle Creek, Michigan, and 1424 South St. Louis, Chicago, Illinois, between 8:25 p.m. and 2 a.m. on the 15th and 16th days of July, 1986.
At trial on direct examination, defendant testified that on July 15, 1986, he was driven to Chicago by an uncle and a young lady. Defendant did not identify the uncle by name and indicated that his uncle had a young lady with him, but he could not remember her name. On cross-examination, the prosecutor elicited from defendant the name of his uncle, Darwin Halsey, and the color and make of the automobile being driven. Defendant further testified on cross-examination that he could not remember the name of the young lady who accompanied his uncle, and responded "I don’t think so” when asked if it was Doris Holmes.
Immediately following defendant’s testimony the defense rested and the judge so advised the jury. Since it was late in the day, the judge adjourned court until the following morning and advised the jury that the prosecution, although not obligated, might present rebuttal testimony when trial commenced the next day. The following morning, the prosecution sought to recall defendant to the stand to rebut matters contained in his notice-of-alibi *199pleading. Defendant’s counsel strenuously objected and told the court that defendant already testified and had been available for cross-examination and defendant would refuse to give testimony for the prosecutor’s rebuttal. Defense counsel stated:
Mr. Stevens: This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard the prosecutor say in court. I filed that pleadings [sic] because I had a deadline and I thought I might develop a defense. That’s my pleading. What the defendant told me this prosecutor is never going to find out. I filed that so I wouldn’t be cut off in case my investigation bore that out. It didn’t. I didn’t. I didn’t mention it in my opening statement. I didn’t offer any proofs. I never mentioned those names. I was very careful to tell the court I’m not going to give you any names. That was my choice and I’m not going to use it now. I decided not to use it for reasons, for strategy reasons, and for reasons known to me with the information I developed.
Marlon Holland is not going to take the stand again, Judge. He is not going to testify and not going to be subjected to the prosecutor trying to pull a fast one. He got away with everything else here. He is not going to get away with this. I will make a record in front of the jury if I have to that that was my choice. It was not Marlon Holland’s. We offer no proofs as far as alibi. That’s not rebuttal.
The court and the prosecutor recognized that, in view of defense counsel’s position, defendant would not testify if called. The prosecutor then stated:
Mr. Sahli: . . . However, the notice of intent to produce alibi witnesses is a part of the court’s records. The Court can take judicial notice of it. I ask that you take true and tested copies, they be entered into the record, and let the jury decide what they wish to do with that.
*200Defense counsel again objected to the notice of alibi being presented to the jury and requested a mistrial if it was to be permitted. The court denied defendant’s motion and ruled that it would advise the jury that a pleading was filed with the court by the defense and it would read the notice of alibi to the jury. The jury was then brought into the courtroom and the judge stated:
The Court: Ladies and gentlemen, let me explain something to you. In the court file, there was filed on April 2, 1987 a notice of alibi that was signed by Richard G. Stevens that reads as follows: To Jon R. Sahli, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, take notice that the defendant in the above-entitled matter proposes to offer in his defense testimony to establish an alibi and give notice of his intention to claim such defense, that the names of witnesses known to the defendant to be called to establish such defense are Darwin Halsey, 1424 South St. Louis, Chicago, Illinois, first floor apartment, Diane Holmes, 1424 South St. Louis, Chicago, Illinois, basement apartment, that defendant claims he was between Kellogg Regional Airport, Battle Creek, Michigan and 1424 South St. Louis, Chicago, Illinois between 8:25 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the 15th and 16th days of July, 1986, dated March 31, 1987.
This is a pleading in the file, ladies and gentlemen.
The notice of alibi statute, MCL 768.20; MSA 28.1043, in pertinent part provides:
(1) If a defendant in a felony case proposes to offer in his defense testimony to establish an alibi at the time of the alleged offense, the defendant shall at the time of arraignment on the information or within 15 days after the arraignment but not less than 10 days before the trial of the case, or at such other time as the court directs, file and *201serve upon the prosecuting attorney a notice in writing of his intention to claim that defense. The notice shall contain, as particularly as is known to the defendant or the defendant’s attorney, the names of witnesses to be called in behalf of the defendant to establish that defense. The defendant’s notice shall include specific information as to the place at which the accused claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense.
Under this statute, unlike the procedure followed in at least one other jurisdiction,1 the defendant himself is not required to sign or affirm the contents of the notice of alibi. Rather, it is prepared and signed by the defendant’s attorney. As such, it would seem that the document itself, as well as its contents, would constitute a nontestimonial event.
The purpose of the notice of alibi is to enable the prosecution to investigate the merits of such a defense prior to trial and to permit the orderly progression of a criminal case without having to deal with elements of surprise and unnecessary delay. See, e.g., People v Merritt, 396 Mich 67, 85; 238 NW2d 31 (1976). Presumably, if the prosecution’s investigation revealed that the alibi was meritorious, the prosecution could halt the criminal proceedings at an early stage. On the other hand, if the prosecution determined that the alibi was without merit, the prosecution would be in a position to challenge alibi testimony from the defendant at trial. Therefore, the justification for the notice of alibi required is for a nontestimonial *202purpose, i.e., discovery and trial preparation. The penalty imposed for failing to comply with the statutory notice requirement is preclusion of the alibi testimony from witnesses, other than the defendant. Id.
I see no useful purpose and considerable potential prejudice in allowing the prosecutor to refer to, let alone the court to read, the notice of alibi filed pursuant to statute. To permit such a procedure is inconsistent with the intent of the statute and could improperly shift the burden of proof to the defendant, who effectively would be called upon to prove the contents of his notice of alibi.2 See People v Shannon, 88 Mich App 138; 276 NW2d 546 (1979).
Moreover, defense counsel, who must file a notice of alibi rather early in the criminal proceeding, would encounter a chilling effect if the alibi notice could be read to a jury. Defense counsel could be called as a witness at trial to defend why a name was put on the notice or why counsel failed to call the witness so listed.3 Any number of legitimate reasons could exist as to why a witness was listed on an alibi notice and then not called. *203Yet, a defendant could be placed in the awkward position of defending the notice filed by his attorney. Simply, the purpose of the alibi-notice statute is for the public good, Merritt, supra, not for creating an evidentiary document to be paraded before a jury.
A balance has currently been created between avoiding surprise at trial by the unexpected introduction of an alibi defense which cannot be investigated without adjourning the trial and the defendant’s constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to produce witnesses in his defense. In my view, to allow the notice of. alibi to be used as a testimonial weapon against a defendant eschews that balance. While there may be some very limited circumstances wherein a reading of a defendant’s notice of alibi should be allowed to be read to the jury, this clearly was not such a case. However, due to the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt, I concur with the majority that any error was harmless.
Finally, in reference to defendant’s sentence of sixty to ninety years, I would remand this matter to the trial court for reconsideration in light of our Supreme Court’s recent pronouncement in People v Moore, 432 Mich 311; 439 NW2d 684 (1989).

 See New Jersey Rules of Evidence, Rule 3:11-1, under which a defendant who intends to rely on an alibi shall, on written demand. of the prosecuting attorney and within ten days thereafter, furnish a written bill of particulars, signed by him, stating the specific place or places at which he claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom he intends to rely to establish such alibi.

 The impropriety of burden-shifting by implying that the defendant is somehow obligated to present evidence of an alibi in order to prove his innocence was recently addressed by our Court in People v Rosales, 160 Mich App 304; 408 NW2d 140 (1987), lv den 429 Mich 861 (1987). This Court reversed the defendant’s conviction because the prosecutor in the rebuttal part of his closing argument commented upon the defendant’s failure to present any corroborating testimony to indicate where he was on the date of the crime. Further, there is no process in Michigan to abandon a notice of alibi defense once filed.

 Although information which forms the basis for preparing the alibi notice frequently comes from the defendant, this is not always the case. On occasion, the information comes from other sources or the attorney’s own investigation. If the procedure utilized in this case is permitted, one can envision the scenario developing where the attorney will have to withdraw from the case during trial, thus causing delay and confusion, so that the attorney can be sworn as a witness to explain or refute information in the notice of alibi. This result clearly would be inconsistent with the orderly administration of justice.