‘I don’t know what went wrong’

Deepa Bharath

Don Haidl looks into his son’s eyes and all he sees is “sheer

terror.”

The Orange County assistant sheriff says he and his 18-year-old

son, Greg Haidl, are “living a nightmare” and they can’t wait to snap

out of it.

Today, prosecution and defense attorneys will make opening

statements in front of a jury, which holds in its hands the lives of

three teenagers -- Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann --

accused of gang-raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl in Don Haidl’s

Corona del Mar home almost two years ago.

What prosecutors say these men, who were boys at the time of the

incident, did to the victim would make anyone cringe. They accuse the

teens of sexually assaulting the girl with various objects, all while

a videotape was rolling.

When he got the call about his son, he couldn’t believe his ears,

Don Haidl said.

“I thought for sure that they had the wrong kid,” he said. “The

Greg I know doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. When he sees blood

on TV, he jerks his head away. If you raise your voice at him, tears

would roll down his face.”

“I don’t know what went wrong. Every day, I look back and ask the

same question: What could I have done to change this?”

And after a long pause, he added: “This was a party that never

should’ve happened.”

The older Haidl was not in his home at the time of the incident,

but wouldn’t say where he was at the time.

KEY EVIDENCE

Defense attorneys contend that the sexual acts were consensual.

The girl had sex with all three defendants before the alleged crime

took place, they say.

“The girl knew where she was going,” said Haidl’s attorney, Joe

Cavallo, in court. “She lied to her parents about where she was

going. She came to Newport Beach with the idea of a weekend sexcapade

with these three boys.”

But prosecutors say they have a key piece of evidence that will

prove the allegations -- a 20-minute digital videotape, which has

reportedly captured the entire incident in lurid detail.

The defense made several pretrial motions asking Judge Francisco

Briseno not to admit the tape into evidence, but all those motions

were denied. The defense contended that the tape had been stolen by

the defendants’ acquaintances, had been edited by San Bernardino

Sheriff officials and was missing some significant footage.

Cavallo said both the tape and the victim’s testimony would not

convince a jury.

“The tape is incomplete and the girl lacks credibility,” he said.

The case has been high-profile from the day his son was arrested,

Don Haidl said.

“And it’s all because of this supposed position of power that I

hold,” he said, referring to his high rank in the Sheriff’s

Department. “It has done me more harm than good in this case.”

Haidl wouldn’t comment about the “harm” but defense attorneys have

argued in court that Greg Haidl has been overcharged by the district

attorney because of his father’s position. They said Dist. Atty. Tony

Rackauckas used this case to salvage his tarnished image by showing

that he could prosecute the son of a political ally who contributed

to his campaign.

The district attorney’s office has denied those allegations and

said that all three defendants were equally charged based on their

actions and not their status.

A FALSE IMPRESSION

Don Haidl said he has never raised any of his children as “spoiled

brats.”

“Everyone thinks, ‘This is some rich, spoiled kid from Newport

Beach,’” he said. “That’s not true. None of my kids lived or grew up

in Corona del Mar. I’ve never told my kids how much money I have.

They’ve all led middle-class lives.”

Don Haidl said he climbed up the social ladder the hard way. He

and his wife were divorced when Greg was 8. Greg mostly lived with

his mother, Don Haidl said.

“I didn’t always have all those millions everyone is talking

about,” he said. “I came up the hard way. When my kids were small, I

worked two or three jobs at a time to make ends meet.”

The widespread media attention has been hard on his family,

especially his son.

“He gets recognized wherever he goes,” he said.

His son had to give up volunteering at a thrift store because

someone recognized him, Don Haidl said. He enrolled at Saddleback

College, but wasn’t spared there either, he said.

“Greg came out of class in tears one day after his teacher made

some rude remarks about what should be done to rapists,” he said. “He

called me on the phone and asked me if he had to go back into the

class. I told him he didn’t have to.”

Greg Haidl finished high school at home with above-average grades

and graduated with the rest of his class, his father said.

The other defendants’ parents could not be reached for comment.

Their attorneys said their clients would not want to comment until

after the trial.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Don Haidl said his son’s biggest fear is going to prison.

“This kid is not going to survive for a whole day in a place like

that,” he said. “None of these kids are going to make it in prison.”

The defense had asked that the case be heard in juvenile court,

but the judge denied that motion as well. Prosecutors said the nature

of the crimes committed was heinous and serious enough to warrant the

charges. A magistrate in Harbor Court who saw the tape said he

believed the teens treated the victim “like a piece of meat.”

But Don Haidl said his sympathies are with all the defendants and

the girl.

“My heart goes out to all the kids,” he said. “It’s devastating

for all of them and their families. They’re all good kids and I wish

all the kids and the parents had the opportunity to sit in a room

without attorneys.”

Today’s world is different for kids than when he was growing up,

he said.

“The whole world of sex is wide open to them through the

Internet,” he said. “There’s subculture out there that’s not only

wild, but accepted by teenagers and some parents.”

His son is an emotional mess, Haidl said. For the first year after

the incident, family members feared he would commit suicide, he said.

“We always made sure, we still make sure someone is with him all

the time,” he said. “We don’t have sleeping pills, guns or sharp

instruments in the house. And we’ve done everything we can to keep

him positive.”

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

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