Haidl Agrees to Behavior Restrictions

As one of his lawyers entered a not-guilty plea related to his latest legal scrape, Gregory Haidl was in another courtroom Thursday agreeing to follow a long list of new restrictions until his retrial in a high-profile gang-rape case is over.

The 19-year-old son of an Orange County assistant sheriff will go to jail if he violates any of the 10 conditions, which include a prohibition on drugs, alcohol and being around underage girls without their parents present.

“These conditions are not meant to be a put-down,” Judge Francisco P. Briseno said. “But they are meant to place some responsibility on you for your actions.”

Prosecutors invited the public “to be their eyes and ears,” alerting police if they see Haidl disobey any of the conditions.

“This is Mr. Haidl’s absolute last chance,” Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, told reporters. “If Mr. Haidl is home at 11:01 p.m., he has violated the terms and conditions of this bail and he will be in custody until the end of this trial.”

Haidl will be retried on charges of raping an allegedly unconscious 16-year-old girl in 2002. Two other young men are also charged, in an incident they captured on videotape. Haidl has had four other brushes with the law since then, the latest in July -- two weeks after the first trial ended with a deadlocked jury.

In the most recent case, prosecutors charged Haidl with a misdemeanor count of statutory rape: sex with a 16-year-old girl. He was not required to attend the arraignment hearing Thursday morning in Laguna Niguel, where attorney Joseph G. Cavallo pleaded not guilty on Haidl’s behalf. Trial in that case was set for Aug. 31.

Haidl’s other attorney, Pete Scalisi, said his client wouldn’t have any trouble following the judge’s orders.

“They might appear stringent, but they’re actually pretty reasonable,” Scalisi told reporters after the brief hearing in Santa Ana.

During the hearing, Haidl sat between his lawyer and his father, Don Haidl. The elder Haidl confirmed to the judge that he would pay for a Santa Ana company to monitor his son’s location with an electronic bracelet, search his home for drugs and test him for drugs and alcohol every week.

The judge also imposed a curfew on Gregory Haidl, who cannot leave Orange County and must be at his father’s home between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. He also cannot drive or be in a car with a minor if the minor’s parents aren’t there.

The judge also provided a list of 17 people he cannot associate with. Most are young men who were detained with him in March for allegedly trespassing at a boarded-up restaurant. Four others he can talk with only in preparation for court hearings.

Briseno said Haidl’s bail also would be revoked if he is arrested or cited on any charge except a minor traffic infraction.