Judge Scolds Attorney in Haidl Trial

An Orange County judge abruptly halted the retrial of a high-profile rape case Monday after a defense attorney told jurors that the alleged victim had evolved from an “innocent” girl to a sex-crazed teen who sold drugs to children.

The case, in which three young men are accused of sexually assaulting an allegedly unconscious 16-year-old girl during a summer party in 2002, will resume Wednesday in Santa Ana.

But the judge made it clear that one of the defense lawyers was out of line in his characterization of the alleged victim. Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno will decide today whether to let defense attorney Joseph G. Cavallo continue his opening remarks.

“Having just said to you, ‘Do not argue your case at this stage,’ you blew right past it,” Briseno told Cavallo after jurors had been removed.

Cavallo represents Gregory Haidl, one of the defendants accused of plying the then-high school age girl with beer and gin before assaulting her. Portions of the incident were videotaped, and the tape is a key piece of evidence.

Attorneys for the three defendants say the July 2002 incident was consensual. Haidl, now 19, and Keith Spann and Kyle Nachreiner, both 20, each face up to 23 years in prison if convicted. The defendants and the accuser all lived in Rancho Cucamonga at the time of the incident, which took place at the Corona del Mar home of Don Haidl, a former assistant sheriff and the defendant’s father.

The opening of the second trial comes seven months after jurors deadlocked in the first, leaning toward acquittal on nearly every count.

Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Chuck Middleton’s opening statement focused on the accuser, who is referred to as Jane Doe in court. On the night of the alleged rape, the prosecutor said, she was a heavy drinker with a voracious sexual appetite: “a sexual object that came to [the defendants] voluntarily.”

But her ability to consent to sex ended, Middleton said, after she drank 8.5 ounces of 94-proof gin early in the morning of July 6 and passed out.

Cavallo told the eight-man, four-woman panel that there were four willing participants on July 6.

The defendants had a reasonable belief that Jane Doe had consented to the activity, Cavallo said, before talking about the laws they would be dealing with during deliberations. That led to the first admonition by Briseno, who had ordered jurors removed and told the lawyer not to argue the law in his opening statement.

Then Cavallo brought up the subject of Jane Doe.

“At the age of 19 ... she’s out in San Bernardino County selling methamphetamine to kids,” he said. “That’s at 19. Nineteen years old. This is what Jane Doe has evolved into.”

Again the judge asked the jurors to leave the room.

Cavallo tried to say he would move on. The judge shook his head and pointed to Cavallo’s chair. “This concludes your opening statement,” the judge said. “The court finds you are not willing to adhere to the guidance of the court.”