McCarty v. State

I must disagree with the majority’s holding that the trial court abused its discretion in excluding alibi testimony of two defense witnesses as a sanction for defendant’s failure to comply with the notice of alibi rule.

SCRA 1986, 5-508(A) provides in relevant part “a defendant who intends to offer evidence of an alibi in his defense shall, not less than ten (10) days before trial ... serve upon [the] district attorney a notice in writing of his intention to claim such alibi.” (emphasis added). Defendant in the instant case totally failed to comply with this rule. He did not submit a notice of…