Sex case video not going public

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- A Superior Court Judge on Thursday ruled that a

digital video tape, which reportedly captured the rape of an

unconscious 16-year-old girl, must not be shown to the public during

the jury trial.

Judge Francisco Briseno said that the privacy of the victim, who

was a minor at the time of the incident, supersedes the need for the

tape to be shown in an open court.

Attorneys for the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register

and CBS objected to the ruling. Briseno also denied a modified

request from the attorneys to allow the media to watch the tape and

report its content to the public.

The 20-minute digital videotape is considered to be a crucial

piece of evidence in the case where Gregory Haidl -- son of Orange

County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl -- Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann

are accused of raping the girl, sexually assaulting her with various

items. The incident reportedly happened in Don Haidl’s Corona del Mar

home.

Both the prosecution and the defense say they support the judge’s

decision.

The video shows the incident in lurid detail, prosecutors said.

“Because of the extreme graphic nature of the tape, we don’t want

to further victimize the young girl,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan

Schroeder said. The district attorney’s office also believes that if

the tape were to be shown to the public, it would discourage victims

from coming forward in the future for fear of their privacy being

violated, she said.

“We didn’t want [the victim] or other witnesses in this case to

feel harassed,” Schroeder said.

Joseph Cavallo, lead attorney for Haidl’s defense team, said he

believed Briseno made a good decision.

“All the people on the tape were minors at the time it was made,”

he said. “And there is a lot of graphic sexual activity that should

be seen only by the jurors and people involved.”

The public’s First Amendment right, in this case, is outweighed by

his client’s right to a fair trial and protection of the privacy of

others involved, Cavallo said.

In November, Briseno allowed attorneys to turn television screens

away from the gallery during a pre-trial hearing when the tape in

question was played.

Briseno’s move was criticized by an attorney for the California

First Amendment Coalition, who said such actions by judges defeat the

purpose of a public court proceeding.

The video should have been shown to the members of the public and

the media present at that hearing, said Terry Francke, an attorney

with the Sacramento-based nonprofit, in November. Francke was not

available for comment on Friday.

When spectators are prevented from seeing a key piece of evidence

the judge or the jury sees, it makes it hard for the public to

evaluate what the judge or jury may have factored into their

decision, Francke said.

The jury trial is scheduled to begin on May 3.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@ latimes.com.