Investigator Won’t Testify

A Newport Beach police detective who interviewed a young woman after she allegedly was raped in the home of a top Orange County sheriff’s official said Friday she would not testify in the case if called as a witness.

On two occasions after the July 2002 incident, Det. Terri L. Fischer interviewed the woman known in court as Jane Doe, who prosecutors say was assaulted in the Corona del Mar home of Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl.

Haidl’s son, Gregory Scott Haidl, 18, and Keith James Spann and Kyle Joseph Nachreiner, both 19, are on trial and face 55 years in prison each if convicted of all counts.

Fischer, 36, said she would invoke her 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination if called to the stand because of an unrelated legal issue.

Fischer, a 10-year police veteran, has been on medical leave since shortly after the alleged rape and is under investigation for allegedly collecting workers’ compensation benefits illegally.

Defense attorneys have accused her of bias and conducting a shoddy investigation and had every intention of calling her to testify, hoping that by impeaching her they could weaken the prosecution’s case.

Part of the defense strategy, they have said, was to get her to admit that she was under investigation for falsely collecting workers’ compensation benefits.

Prosecutors had already announced they would not call her as a witness, fearing that the pending workers’ compensation investigation would cast doubt on her credibility.

But at a brief hearing Friday in Santa Ana, Fischer told Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno that she would invoke the 5th Amendment if called to testify.

“I’m going to determine that this potential witness is unavailable to either side,” said Briseno, who then excused Fischer.

There was no testimony on Friday. The trial will resume Tuesday.