Retrial motion is sexual assault case postponed...

Retrial motion is sexual assault case postponed

Three men jailed for sexually assaulting a drunk 16-year-old girl when they were teenagers will have to wait at least another two

months to hear if they will get a new trial.

Greg Haidl, the 19-year-old son of a former sheriff’s official,

and Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both 20, appeared in court

briefly Friday morning, wearing gold prison scrubs.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed to a July 22 hearing for

a defense motion for a new trial. If that motion is denied, the three

men would not be sentenced for at least another 45 days after that,

defense attorney John Barnett said outside the courtroom.

The three men were convicted in March of multiple felony counts of

penetration with a foreign object and were scheduled to be sentenced

May 20.

A fitness hearing to determine whether they should be sentenced as

adults or juveniles would be heard after the judge rules on a new

trial. All three were 17 at the time of the 2002 assault.

Barnett said attorneys have not yet decided if they would want

them sentenced as adults or juveniles.

Defense attorneys will ask for a new trial because they disagreed

with part of the jury instructions, Barnett said.

The defense team for Haidl, son of wealthy businessman and former

Orange County assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, brought in a new attorney

to handle the motion for a new trial.

Greg Haidl, Nachreiner and Spann were accused of gang-raping a

girl in Haidl’s Corona del Mar home during a July 2002 party. They

were also accused of sexually assaulting her with various objects

during the videotaped encounter.

They were acquitted on charges of rape and assault with a deadly

weapon.

If sentenced as an adult, Haidl could face up to 18 years in

prison. Nachreiner and Spann would face slightly lesser sentences.

Man pleads guilty to molestation charges

A music teacher accused of molesting three young girls pleaded

guilty and was sentenced to 24 years in state prison.

Newport Beach police arrested Aaron William Hallas, 54, of Garden

Grove, on Feb. 2 after an elementary-school-aged girl reported that

he had molested her. The girl took private music lessons from Hallas.

Two other girls came forward after Hallas’ picture appeared in

news reports, prosecutor Lynda Fernandez said. Another girl had also

reported molestations by Hallas while he taught at a private school

in Irvine, but that case was not filed due to lack of evidence.

He was fired from his job there in 2003, Fernandez said.

Hallas pleaded guilty Friday in Orange County Superior Court to 12

counts of lewd acts with a child. All the accusers were about 8 years

old at the time of the molestations, Fernandez said.

Hallas will be classified as a sexually violent predator, which

means he will likely stay in a state hospital once his sentence is

complete, she said.

Hallas could have faced life in prison if he was found guilty by a

jury.

He won’t be eligible for parole until he is 75 years old,

Fernandez said.