People v. Hidalgo CA4/2

FACTS

Sometime between the late evening of November 19, 2019 and the early morning

of the following day, the victim was beaten and bound with an extension cord while his

assailants stole various items from his home and took his car. Over the course of the

investigation and at trial, the victim gave a number of accounts that conflicted on certain

details, including the precise time the home invasion took place. Hidalgo’s defense at

trial was that he couldn’t have been one of the assailants because he was in police

custody for nearly 12 hours on November 20, 2019—from about 3:45 a.m. to about 3:

p.m.

A. Prosecution’s Case

The victim, who is 5'7'' and in his 60s, lives in Hesperia with his wife and son,

neither of whom was home when the incident occurred. The victim was acquainted with

2 Hidalgo (who is in his 30s) through his daughter, Rachel, and had spent time with him on

a few previous occasions. On November 19, Hidalgo stopped by the victim’s house to

hang out and asked if he could invite his friends over—two people later identified as

Jason Boggs and Cara Anderson. The four hung out and drank beers for some time, but

the details of what…