Defense hopes to add jury to its team

Deepa Bharath

Ten members of a jury, which hung in a high-profile gang-rape trial

involving the son of an Orange County assistant sheriff, have agreed

to work as consultants to help defense attorneys prepare for the

retrial.

The jury hopelessly deadlocked on the case involving Greg Haidl,

son of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and

Keith Spann, all 19, causing the judge to declare a mistrial.

The Orange County district attorney refiled the case the next day.

The teenagers are accused of raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl and sexually assaulting her with various objects as she lay on a pool

table in the garage of Don Haidl’s Corona del Mar home. They also

made a videotape recording the incident, which was viewed by the jury

several times.

The jury, on four counts, voted 11-1 in favor of acquittal for the

three defendants. On the other counts, the jury was leaning toward

acquittal with a few others voting guilty and several others

“undecided.”

Defense attorneys believed the key testimony came from neurologist

Harris Fisk, who told jurors that segments of the tape showed Jane

Doe was awake during the sexual acts and seemed to give her consent.

The jurors have offered to give defense attorneys their opinions

on the evidence, former Haidl defense attorney Joseph Cavallo said.

Soliciting the jurors’ assistance was his “final task” as a member of

the high-powered defense team, he said.

“We wanted to get a feel for what jurors were thinking during

their deliberations,” he said. “We want them as our advisors, giving

us their impressions on the value of each piece of evidence.”

None of the jurors want money, Cavallo said.

“They want to help the defense because they believe in our case,”

he said.

But the defense is expected to arrive at an agreement paying $50

an hour to each juror for time spent on the case, Cavallo said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Schroeder was not available for comment

on Sunday.

Greg Haidl was arrested on a misdemeanor statutory rape charge on

Thursday after Orange County sheriff’s deputies who responded to a

noise complaint in the wee hours Wednesday learned the teenager had

had sex with a 16-year-old girl.

The district attorney issued the warrant for his arrest and will

also ask Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno to revoke Haidl’s

bail because of his repeated encounters with the law, prosecutors

said. During a press conference Friday, Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas

said Greg Haidl had met the 16-year-old girl at a party that Don

Haidl threw for his son the night of the mistrial.

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

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