Suspects' excuses
I believe the answer is:
alibis
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">suspects' excuses</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for alibis that I've seen before include "They're useful to have if accused of crimes" , "Legal defences of being somewhere else at times of crimes" , "Pleas of being elsewhere at the time of a crime" , "Proofs of absence from the scene of the crime" , "Proofs accused was elsewhere at time of crime" .)