Opinion ID: 2600593
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Defendant's whereabouts on April 23

Text: On April 30, one week after Tahisha disappeared, Detectives Franey and Griego interviewed defendant at Victor Valley Community Hospital. Defendant continued to assert he had stayed home all evening on April 23. When Griego told defendant that Hunskor and Jannsen had seen him leaving at approximately 9:30 that evening, defendant claimed he was confused. Approximately one week after Tahisha disappeared, the police interviewed Holly Robles, a waitress at Coco's Restaurant, and learned that defendant had not remained at his home the entire evening of April 23. Robles testified that defendant regularly came into the restaurant between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. On April 23, he entered the restaurant between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., ordered an iced tea, and stayed about 20 minutes. Defendant told Robles that a little girl who had wandered off Rimrock was missing. He told Robles that it was the mother's fault, because mothers do not watch their children and leave them with babysitters. He also told Robles that he was on call in the event they found the missing girl and needed a helicopter. [8] Robles testified that defendant seemed edgy that evening, [p]laying with napkins and stuff, which she could not recall seeing him do when she had waited on him on other occasions. She testified that he was scared and jumpy, that his eyes were red, and that she could tell something was wrong. She also had the impression that defendant did not care about the girl who was missing, but she further stated that he seemed normal concerning the girl's disappearance. Coco's Restaurant is located on Main Street in Barstow, several blocks from Interstate Highway 15. Defendant usually went to work by driving on Main Street to Interstate 15, then proceeding on the interstate highway to Fort Irwin Road. The distance from the Rimrock Apartments to the location of Tahisha's body on Fort Irwin Road was approximately seven miles. Detective Franey drove this route several times and arrived at the location where Tahisha's body was found within nine to 11 minutes while keeping within the speed limit.