Counsel says defendants were charged too heavily

Deepa Bharath

The three teenagers accused of gang-raping a 16-year-old girl have

been treated equally in a case that has created a media frenzy

because of the high-power position held by one defendant’s father, a

spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney said.

Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl and his son’s defense

team, however, have said they believe that the Orange County district

attorney overcharged this case because of Don Haidl’s position of

power and his role in county politics.

Prosecutors allege that Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith

Spann, sexually assaulted the girl in the older Haidl’s Corona del

Mar home in July 2002.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Schroeder said that the district attorney

has charged all three defendants alike and the videotape that is

expected to be played for jurors on Tuesday will prove every single

charge beyond a reasonable doubt. The teens face 24 felony counts.

“The complaint against these defendants is like a program guide

for the criminal acts that have been caught on the videotape,”

Schroeder said. “You can tick off the charges as you watch the tape.”

The prosecution’s main piece of evidence is a 20-minute digital

videotape, which has reportedly captured the alleged rape. Defense

attorneys have consistently argued that the sexual acts seen on tape

were consensual.

She said Don Haidl’s position as an assistant sheriff has no

bearing on the case. But, she added, that this is an unusual case

because of Haidl’s affluence and influence.

“It’s a unique situation where the defendants have had every

resource available to them,” she said. “They are being defended by

the best in the business. They’ve had eight attorneys argue their

case at different points, six of them for Haidl, including a former

judge.”

The Haidl family has also hired Tori Richards, a former

spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney, as well as a

jury consultant, Schroeder said.

But she added that she understood Don Haidl’s plight as a parent

facing the possibility of his son going to state prison for up to 55

years, if convicted.

“It’s obvious he loves his son very much,” she said. “But his

perception seems very different from the reality. The truth will come

out during the trial and justice will be done.”

Schroeder said the defendants have been in the limelight from the

beginning.

“No one understands how much the victim has suffered,” she said.

“Her reputation has been trashed and the defense has depicted her in

a way that seems less than human. We’re happy that she is going to

have her day in court.”

Don Haidl said his son and the other defendants and their families

have been traumatized by all the notoriety and attention this case

has brought to them.

But Schroeder said that the defendants fed the media frenzy in

their own way.

“On the day of their arraignment Haidl and Nachreiner made obscene

gestures at the television cameras,” she said. “It started right then

and there for them. They brought it on themselves.”

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

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