Detective suspected of filing false claim

Deepa Bharath

A police detective who investigated several high-profile sex crimes

and won a merit award for her work is suspected of falsely collecting

workers’ compensation benefits, officials said, a charge that could

come up in a heavily publicized gang-rape case now in the courts.

Teri Fischer, who investigated the rape of an unconscious

16-year-old girl in the Corona del Mar home of Assistant Sheriff Don

Haidl, is being scrutinized by state officials who saw “a few

irregularities” in her claim, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman

said.

“We’re not conducting a criminal investigation,” he said.

The city’s workers’ compensation claims administrator passed

Fischer’s file on to the police department, citing irregularities,

and the department in turn forwarded the case to the Orange County

district attorney, Shulman said.

He would not comment about the nature of Fischer’s injuries

because it is a “personnel issue.”

“The district attorney has also instructed us not to discuss this

case,” Shulman said.

Fischer has been off work since September 2002. She could not be

reached for comment on Thursday.

The Orange County district attorney’s office cannot comment on any

case referred for investigation, spokeswoman and Deputy Dist. Atty.

Susan Schroeder said.

Fischer previously testified in the high-profile gang-rape trial

involving Greg Haidl, son of Don Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith

Spann -- all teenagers accused of sexually assaulting the unconscious

girl with several objects as she lay on a pool table.

The jury trial in the case began on Monday. Defense attorneys

brought up Fischer during their opening statements, saying the

detective coaxed a reluctant victim to pursue the case. Spann’s

attorney, Peter Morreale, said Fischer met with the girl in

restaurants and at the girl’s home in Rancho Cucamonga in an attempt

to convince the girl to agree to the prosecution.

Haidl’s attorney, Joseph Cavallo, said Fischer interviewed the

girl twice, once in July 2002 and again in March 2003, because she

knew the case “had a lot of holes.”

Fischer testified during a pretrial hearing in January 2003 that

the victim did not want to go forward with the case. Fischer also

told the court she watched the 20-minute videotape the defendants had

made of the alleged rape and said it was so disturbing that it made

her vomit.

Schroeder said prosecutors don’t intend to call Fischer to testify

in the jury trial.

“Det. John Hougan is the lead investigator in this case,” she

said.

The defense may still call her as one of their witnesses. Whether

they will bring up the claims against her is unclear.

Fischer was also one of the key investigators in the case of

Trenton Veches, a city recreation coordinator who was sentenced to

life in prison for sucking the toes of several young boys enrolled in

city after-school and holiday programs.

She and other investigators, who were part of the Sexual Assault

Investigation Team including Hougan, won the Award of Merit from the

Police Department for its work in 2002. Detectives went through

hundreds of images and compact discs in the Veches case trying to

identify victims.

Fischer came to the department in 1998 after working for two years

in the Los Angeles Police Department. She started off as a patrol

officer and was transferred to the detective division.

City Councilman Steve Bromberg said he never heard about the

investigation of Fischer.

“It was totally out of my radar,” he said. “But it is an internal

matter and must be dealt with internally.”

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

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