The bail remains the same

Deepa Bharath

A Superior Court judge refused to increase bail on Wednesday for the

18-year-old son of an Orange County Assistant Sheriff, who along with

two other teenagers is accused of gang-raping an unconscious

16-year-old girl in his father’s Corona del Mar home.

Judge Francisco Briseno denied Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Hess’ motion

to increase the $100,000 bail by an unspecified amount. The motion

contains a laundry list of incidents involving Greg Haidl, including

trespassing and possession of marijuana. Prosecutors also maintain

that the teenager is a flight risk.

But the judge ruled on Wednesday that there was no reason to

increase Haidl’s bail because no charges have been filed against him

in any of the alleged incidents.

Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both 19, are facing 24

felony counts. Prosecutors say the teens sexually assaulted the girl

with various objects and recorded the entire incident using a video

camera. Their jury trial began on May 3. Jurors have seen the

20-minute digital videotape of the alleged crime.

Defense Attorney Joseph Cavallo said he “expected” Wednesday’s

decision.

“This motion was a waste of time,” he said. “Although I understand

why the prosecutor filed it. If I were him, I’d have filed it too.”

The motion came days after Haidl and two other men were reportedly

stopped by Orange County Sheriff’s deputies after they illegally

entered a private walkway in a Dana Point condo complex and removed a

railing so they could skateboard there.

“The father side of me wants to smack [Haidl] in the head. But the

lawyer side of me knows that there is no grounds for this motion to

be granted because no charges were filed,” Cavallo said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Schroeder said the district attorney’s

office “filed the motion in good faith.”

“The defendant is clearly a threat to public safety,” she said.

“The incidents involve trespassing where ‘No Trespassing’ signs were

posted [and] disregard for other people’s property. All incidents

involve groups of young men and videotaping. And one incident

involves marijuana.”

The incidents by themselves are not significant, Schroeder said.

“But the three incidents happened within the space of seven

months,” she said.

This was “not a knee-jerk filing,” Schroeder said.

“It’s a compilation of several incidents over a period of time,”

she said. “We will continue to look for evidence and will continue to

bring up these issues to the court.”

Haidl is definitely a flight risk, Schroeder said.

“We have reason to believe he won’t show up in court or that he

may flee,” she said. “He’s facing serious charges which have been

publicized. Add to that, what his father said about a conviction in

this case being a death sentence for him -- he’s a flight risk.”

Cavallo said his client has no intention of fleeing or not

appearing in court.

“He has nobody anywhere in the world,” he said. “All his family

and friends are right here in California. He’s not going anywhere.”

As for the prosecutor’s statements that Don Haidl had called his

son’s possible conviction a death sentence, Cavallo said: “Of course,

it’s a death sentence.”

“Look at him,” Cavallo, who was standing outside the 11th floor

courtroom, said pointing to Greg Haidl as he sauntered toward a

waiting elevator.

“He won’t last 24 hours in prison.”

Prosecutors also alleged in the motion that investigators for the

defense attorneys intimidated and harassed the girl and her family.

The motion states that the girl’s brother saw a man rummage through

the trash outside the family’s home.

John Warren, a Tustin-based private investigator working for the

defense, said the Rialto police officer accused of trespassing and

looking into the trash can was not even in the country at the time of

the alleged incident.

“He was in Philippines in March when they say this incident

happened,” Warren said. “We have records to prove that.”

But something still doesn’t sit right, Schroeder said, because the

investigator in question told the prosecution last month that he was

in town but off-duty at the time and that he was working for Warren.

“It looks like they’ve changed their story,” Schroeder said.

Warren said he has seven investigators working on this case.

“We’re very careful about not harassing or stalking the girl or

her family,” he said.

But Warren admitted that they have tried to contact the girl and

have talked to her old and new friends.

The prosecution expressed horror that defense investigators would

contact the girl’s new friends after she quit her old school in

Rancho Cucamonga and moved to a different school under a new

identity.

Schroeder said the girl “has made it clear that she wants to be

left alone.”

“She just wants to come to court and tell the truth,” she said.

Prosecutors say they will likely call the teenager to testify next

week.

Warren said his investigators served the girl with a subpoena in

school.

“We tried to serve her at home, but none of her family members

would accept it for her or they wouldn’t come to the door,” he said.

“So we went to her school, waited until she got out of class and

served the subpoena as she walked away from her friends and was about

to get into her car.”

Investigators did try to talk to as many of her friends as they

could, Warren said.

“They all seemed to be familiar with the case,” he said.

Don Haidl said he was relieved by the judge’s decision on

Wednesday.

“Our attorneys told us to expect it,” he said. “But you never know

what to really expect in these situations.”

Asked about the incidents his son was involved in, the elder Haidl

said: “The family has dealt with it.”

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

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