Decision on Whether to Jail Gang-Rape Suspect Delayed

An Orange County judge refused Tuesday to hold an immediate hearing to determine whether Gregory Haidl’s bail should be revoked while he awaits a second trial in a high-profile gang-rape case.

Prosecutors argued that Haidl, a top sheriff official’s son who has had several recent brushes with the law while out on bail and faces new charges of misdemeanor statutory rape, is a flight risk and a menace to the community, especially teenage girls.

In a legal brief, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Hess argued that Haidl’s bail in the gang-rape case should be revoked and that he should be jailed until the retrial is over.

Judge Francisco P. Briseno said he is preparing to hear other cases, including a murder trial, that represent greater dangers to the community, so he postponed the bail hearing until Aug. 6, the same day Haidl and two others, all 19, will be arraigned a second time on charges that they raped and otherwise sexually assaulted an allegedly unconscious 16-year-old girl during a 2002 party at the home of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, the defendant’s father.

The first trial ended in a jury deadlock, with jurors leaning toward acquittal on nearly every count.

Haidl was charged last week after an incident involving another 16-year-old girl. Through his lawyer, he said he thought the girl was 18, but prosecution documents revealed Tuesday state that Haidl specifically asked the girl’s age before they had sex in a San Clemente house where she was dog-sitting.

Haidl is free on $100,000 bail for each case.