People v. Brooks

A defendant in a criminal case has the fundamental right to present his defense to the trier of fact. In this case, the trial judge excluded the defendant’s alibi defense because of a minor infraction of the discovery rules. We find the sanction of exclusion was too harsh. For that reason we reverse the defendant’s murder and armed robbery convictions and remand the case for a new trial.

EVIDENCE AT TRIAL

The State presented 10 witnesses during its case in chief. This is a summary of their testimony.

On October 8, 1989, at about 7 p.m., Tracy Abrams, Lee Fredericks, Cherrelle Spencer, William…