Juror Reveals a Link to Haidl

A juror picked this week to hear the Orange County retrial of three young men accused of raping an unconscious girl works for a Los Angeles County supervisor who has received campaign contributions from the father of the best-known defendant.

The juror is a deputy for Supervisor Don Knabe, who received the donations from millionaire businessman and former Orange County Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl. Haidl’s 19-year-old son, Gregory, is a defendant in the rape case, along with Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both 20.

Knabe, who represents southeastern Los Angeles County, also appointed the elder Haidl’s sister to an unpaid position on the Los Angeles Commission for Public Social Services. Peggy Haidl served from November 1999 until she resigned in July 2003.

The juror, who has worked for the supervisor for about six months and is not being named by The Times, informed the court Tuesday of the relationship between Haidl and his boss, Knabe said. The juror will meet with Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno on Monday.

Attorneys for both sides said they knew nothing about the connection before jury selection but were not bothered by it.

“That’s not a big deal,” said Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Chuck Middleton. “Obviously, working for Knabe for about six months, he probably didn’t know about” the supervisor’s ties to the elder Haidl.

Said Pete Scalisi, an attorney for Gregory Haidl: “The juror has told everyone he is fair-minded and impartial, and we’re all confident he will be. This doesn’t change a thing for us.”

It took just two days to choose the jury of eight men and four women, which was seated Tuesday. Opening statements begin Monday, and the trial is expected to last two months.

The jury in the first trial deadlocked in June. The case drew nationwide attention because of Donald Haidl’s wealth, his position in the Sheriff’s Department and the graphic nature of the alleged crime. The key evidence is a 20-minute video showing Gregory Haidl, Spann and Nachreiner allegedly sexually assaulting the then 16-year-old girl with a pool cue, fruit can, juice bottle and cigarette while she was unconscious.

The girl acknowledged in the first trial that she had consensual sex with two of the defendants the night before the alleged rape. The defendants said she agreed to have sex with them the next night and was pretending to be passed out.

Knabe said he didn’t know how much money Donald Haidl gave him, but thought the donations were made between 1994 and 1996, when he was elected to his first term. He has been reelected twice. He said Haidl also held a fundraiser for him.

Campaign finance records show that Nationwide Cos. in the City of Industry -- a firm with a name similar to two of Haidl’s companies -- gave Knabe’s campaign $10,000 in 1996 and loaned him an additional $10,000 the same year. It was unclear whether the loan was repaid.

“I really haven’t had much contact with him since then, if at all,” Knabe said.

He said he met Peggy Haidl twice -- when he interviewed her for a spot on the social services commission and at a commission meeting -- and talked to her on the phone once.

The juror is one of seven field deputies who work with Knabe, representing him in a section of his district.

Knabe said his chief of staff informed him that the deputy was selected for the jury out of concern about the length of time he would be away from his job.

“My first reaction was, ‘Oh my golly, I know Donald Haidl and Peggy was my commissioner,’ ” Knabe said.

He said he instructed his chief of staff to tell the juror to call the court and “explain the situation right away so it doesn’t become something a defense attorney can use.”

Knabe said that because of turnover in his office, he doubted whether anyone knew of his connection to the Haidls.

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Times staff writers Erica Williams and Jack Leonard contributed to this report.