Better way of saying "two people have worked on their stories together"
What is a better way of saying "two people have worked on their stories together"? Here's an example of a situation in which this phrase would come up:
A witness in a trial is suspected to have "worked on his story together with the defendant" and therefore, he is likely to be untruthful when answering questions. In this example, the witness is someone who would not benefit by lying other than getting the defendant off the hook. Someone like a family member.
The witness has colluded with the defendant.
It would seem the two people have Collaborated.
- Work jointly on an activity, esp. to produce or create something.
In this case, they're producing a story that seemingly fits the evidence, but paints a picture of innocence.
To use an informal phrase, you could say that the witness and the defendant are "in cahoots."
In Cahoots (with someone) Rur. In conspiracy with someone; in league with someone.
"We suspect that the players and trainer are in cahoots and crafting lies about steroid use in the team's locker room."
I just read a hit on a Google search that said something about rehearsing their stories. This happens all the time between attorneys and witnesses.
rehearsed stories | Life On The Edge
https://girlfriday6.wordpress.com/tag/rehearsed-stories/ - Cached
Posts about rehearsed stories written by. ... Tag Archives: rehearsed stories. Not Found. Apologies, but no results were found for the requested archive. Perhaps ...Story Time
www.callawyer.com/clstory.cfm?eid=923937 - Cached
But his story needed work. In those days, trials could be trailed for a very long time. So my client and I spent many days together rehearsing his testimony.
I'm sure that I've heard rehearsed their stories in the dialog from police shows on TV and movies where everyone has exactly the same story and tells it in exactly the same way, down to the smallest details.
In light of the OP's edit, I'd say that the family member is corroborating or backing up the defendant's story and is essentially providing him/her with an alibi. If the witness' statement is a fabrication, it would be a false alibi.
Corroborate:
confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding):
the witness had corroborated the boy’s account of the attack
Alibi (which apparently also has an informal verb form):
verb (alibis, alibiing, alibied)
provide an alibi for:
her friend agreed to alibi her