Gang-rape trial of three makes its second start

Marisa O’Neil

After a trial that ended last year with a hung jury and months of

legal wrangling ever since, starting today three men will once again

face charges that they gang-raped an allegedly unconscious

16-year-old girl in 2002.

Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both now 20, and Greg Haidl, the

19-year-old son of former Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl,

still face many of the charges they did in last year’s trial, which

ended with jurors unable to reach a verdict but leaning toward

acquittals on the major charges. But this time, prosecutors are

presenting a more “streamlined” case that they hope will mean less

confusion for jurors, Chief Assistant Deputy Dist. Atty. Chuck

Middleton said.

The first time around, the defendants faced 24 charges, including

multiple counts for each alleged act. This time, they face nine

charges, including oral copulation by intoxication and sexual

penetration by a foreign object by intoxication.

“It gets very confusing to a jury, especially in jury

instructions,” Middleton said of multiple charges. “[This time], it’s

easier for the jury to understand the case.”

Members of that first jury were hired by Haidl attorney Joseph

Cavallo to act as consultants for the second trial. That move is not

illegal but has stirred ethical debates in the legal community.

Judge Francisco Briseno, who also heard the first case, ruled on

Thursday that a videotape of the July 5, 2002 incident in Don Haidl’s

Corona del Mar home will not be shown to the public. As in the first

trial, video monitors in the courtroom will be positioned so only the

jurors can see them.

The maximum prison term the three men face decreased in the new

trial to 23 years from the 55 they faced last year.

Defense attorneys are working as if it were a death penalty case,

regardless of the prison time their clients could face, said Pete

Scalisi, an attorney for Greg Haidl.

“Either way, it’s equivalent to a death sentence for three young,

good kids who’ve never been in trouble their whole lives,” Scalisi

said. “Facing going to a brutal treacherous place like prison is a

death sentence for them.”

Prosecutors are also dropping allegations that the date-rape drug

GHB was used to incapacitate the girl, referred to as Jane Doe.

That means they only have to prove she was under the influence,

not which substance caused it, prosecutors said. But defense

attorneys countered that the girl drank more the night before the

incident and was able to function.

The massive amount of media coverage that the first trial received

has also changed things for the retrial.

Briseno and defense attorneys worried it would be impossible to

bring together an impartial jury in a county saturated by coverage of

the first trial.

John Barnett, attorney for Kyle Nachreiner, said jurors’ feelings

about Greg Haidl could adversely affect his client. Since the first

trial began last year, Greg Haidl had a series of scrapes with the

law, including the alleged statutory rape of another 16-year-old

girl.

According to court documents, he met that girl at a party the

night Briseno declared a hung jury in the first trial. Briseno

revoked Haidl’s bail and jailed him in November until the retrial for

violating terms the judge placed on the bail.

The judge held an extensive pre-screening of nearly 800 jurors,

which have since been whittled down to 120. Final jury selection

begins Monday and is expected to continue through Thursday. Opening

arguments will likely start Feb. 7.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.