Preliminary hearing in teens’ retrial set A...

Preliminary hearing in teens’ retrial set

A preliminary hearing in the retrial of three teenagers accused of

gang-raping a 16-year-old girl was continued from Friday to Monday.

Prosecutors say Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, all

19, raped and sexually assaulted the girl as she lay on a pool table

set in the garage of Haidl’s Corona del Mar home two years ago.

A jury in the previous trial deadlocked on all 24 felony counts,

forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. The district attorney

refiled the case, boiling down the number of counts to nine.

On Monday, the judge will hear and likely rule on a defense motion

to dismiss the case. Defense attorneys maintain that the prosecution

does not have sufficient evidence to convict the defendants and that

a retrial would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Cause of apartment fire still unknown

No one was injured in a two-alarm fire that gutted an apartment

Friday morning, Costa Mesa fire officials said.

The fire broke out in an apartment complex in the 2300 block of

Fairview Road at about 5:55 a.m., Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Chris

Riley said.

No neighboring units were damaged, he said.

“All the residents were able to get out safely,” Riley said.

The cause and origin of the blaze are still under investigation,

he said.