3 men convicted in Orange County sexual assault take case to California Supreme Court

Three men found guilty in Orange County nearly five years ago of sexually assaulting an apparently unconscious 16-year-old girl and videotaping her have asked the state Supreme Court to overturn their convictions.

Gregory Haidl, 24, the son of former Orange County Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl; Kyle Nachreiner, 25; and Keith Spann, also 25, were convicted in 2005 of sexual assault and sentenced to six years in prison. All three have been paroled.

Haidl’s attorney, Dennis Fischer, said petitions were filed with the state high court last week to hear arguments on why the three should have their convictions overturned and not have to register as sex offenders. But he said the chances of the court agreeing to hear the petitions are “next to none.”

All three were 17 years old when the assault occurred in 2002 at the elder Haidl’s home in Corona del Mar. They lost their case at the appeals court level last month. This is their last chance to appeal their convictions at the state level.

If the state high court agrees to hear the case, Fischer will argue that the trial judge did not give his client a fair trial because he excluded evidence that the victim participated in similar sexual activity not long before the assault. The woman’s sexual history was protected under California’s rape shield law.

Fischer also plans to argue that the requirement to register as sex offenders should be dropped because the jury found the trio not guilty on an assault with a deadly weapon charge. Without that charge, Fischer said, they would have been tried as juveniles and would not have to register.

Prosecutors say the men’s attempts to clear their records is exactly why they should have to register as sex offenders.s

“Men who are convicted of preying on women who are too intoxicated to say ‘no’ are sexual predators,” said Orange County district attorney’s spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder. “The public has the right to know who they are, where the live and what they did.”

The state Supreme Court has 60 days to decide whether to hear the case.

joseph.serna@latimes.com