No New Trial in O.C. Sex Assault

An Orange County Superior Court judge Friday rejected requests for a new trial filed by two of the three men convicted of sexually assaulting a highly intoxicated 16-year-old girl during a summertime party in 2002.

Attorneys for Gregory Haidl and Kyle Nachreiner, both 20, said Judge Francisco Briseno made repeated mistakes during the high-profile gang rape trial -- giving erroneous and confusing instructions to the jury and barring testimony about the victim’s sexual history, her intoxication at the time of the attack and her financial motive for seeing her attackers prosecuted.

Keith Spann, also 20, the third person convicted in the assault, will have his request for a retrial heard Tuesday. The three, convicted in March, remain in custody and could face lengthy prison sentences. Their first trial in 2004 ended in mistrial.

The three youths attacked the girl on a pool table after a night of heavy drinking at the Corona del Mar home of Haidl’s father, Donald Haidl, then an assistant Orange County sheriff. The youths videotaped the activity, which provided the prosecution with its most damning evidence.

The case drew national attention. It also spawned a series of related controversies, including Gregory Haidl’s other brushes with the law, such as allegations that he had sex with a different teenage girl the night of his mistrial.

Briseno, who presided at Friday’s hearing, invited defense attorneys to appeal his ruling, but said that his instructions to the jury did not prejudice the defendants. The attorneys said they probably would appeal.

The main issue was Briseno’s response during deliberations when the jury asked whether the defendants had to know that their actions were criminal or illegal for jurors to find they acted with specific intent.

Attorneys for Haidl and Nachreiner said Briseno’s answer to the question served only to confuse the jury and was erroneous.

During Friday’s hearing, Briseno also offered details about the assault on the teenage girl -- known as Jane Doe during the trial. Briseno said each of the defendants acted as both attacker and partner in the assault. He also reminded the attorneys that the defense strategy during the trial had been to attack the victim’s credibility.

“They tried this case on the basis that Jane Doe was not to be believed,” said Briseno. “The video in this case is graphic and compelling. It’s not Jane Doe’s credibility at stake in this trial.”

Haidl could face up to 18 years in prison, Nachreiner, 14 years, and Spann, 16 years, when they are sentenced later this year. But Briseno may choose to sentence them to the California Youth Authority instead, where they could be held until they turn 25.

A sentencing date has not been set.