Expert says tape is original

Deepa Bharath

A video expert testified on Tuesday that a digital videotape, which

reportedly captures three teens gang-raping an unconscious

16-year-old girl, is an unaltered original tape.

Attorneys for defendants Greg Haidl, son of Orange County

Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann have

maintained that a split second of black frames in the middle of the

tape and what appears to be a “fluttering” image at the end of the

tape, could have been caused by someone trying to edit or tamper with

the tape.

Defense attorneys have alleged that San Bernardino County

Sheriff’s officials attempted to edit the tape and that the tape

could be missing 17 minutes of footage because those minutes, which

would prove their clients’ innocence, were edited out from the

original tape.

David Dustin, the prosecution’s video expert, testified on Tuesday

that the flutter in the end was most likely caused by a sudden “loss

of power.”

“It could have been because the camera was suddenly turned off

while the tape was still engaged,” he said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Hess said during his opening statements on

May 3 that the 21 black frames, which account for about two-thirds of

a second, came on the tape when a Newport Beach police officer

sitting in his patrol car accidentally pushed the “record” button.

Dustin said he could hear audio from a police radio when he

analyzed the tape for the duration of the black frames.

“That in itself shows that this tape is an original,” he said. “It

proves this couldn’t have been a copy because you could hear the

audio of the police broadcast.”

Such audio could not have been transferred during a recording and

would remain in the original, Dustin said.

The “fluttering” in the end could also be the result of “very

sloppy editing,” he said.

“But if you’re editing it, it would be very easy to go ahead and

eliminate the flutter,” Dustin said.

Defense attorney John Barnett vigorously cross-examined Dustin,

pointing out what he believed were discrepancies between Dustin’s

testimony on Tuesday and what he said during a pretrial hearing in

March.

Barnett pointed out that Dustin had answered “yes” to his question

as to whether 17 minutescould be missing from the tape.

“You asked me the questions,” Dustin retorted. “I just answered

them.”

“And you said the truth when you answered, right? Barnett asked.

“Yes,” Dustin replied.

Barnett continued with the line of questioning, jogging Dustin’s

memory back and forth between the March hearing and Tuesday’s

testimony. Dustin told Barnett that he may have “misunderstood” some

of his questions during the pretrial.

Defense attorneys maintain that someone redacted the original

90-minute tape to 60 minutes, cut out 17 minutes of footage, copied

it on to another digital tape and pawned it off as the original.

Dustin told Barnett that the 17 minutes could not have been cut

out from a 60-minute tape without causing a significant blank in the

tape.

“And it is my opinion that this tape is an original and it hasn’t

been altered,” he said.

Testimony will continue on Monday. The judge will hear arguments

today relating to a motion filed by the Orange County district

attorney to increase Haidl’s bail.

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

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