O.C. Rape Jury Won’t Hear Ex-Porn Actress’ Testimony

A former adult film actress will not be allowed to testify in a high-profile Orange County rape case that footage of the incident was consistent with amateur pornography, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Lawyers for one of the three defendants in the July 2002 case had wanted to call Sharon Mitchell as a witness to rebut the testimony of a narcotics expert who said the girl on the video appeared to be drugged.

In a hearing before Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno, Mitchell said the 21-minute video contained several hallmarks of a typical porn production. “All in all, I thought this was a very amateurish attempt at making a porn film,” said Mitchell, who said she appeared in nearly 2,000 adult movies.

Briseno said the defense had not shown cause to bring Mitchell in front of a jury. He added that her testimony about what the tape depicts seemed unnecessary. “This is something the jury can make their own individual determination on,” the judge said.

Gregory Scott Haidl, 18, Kyle Joseph Nachreiner and Keith James Spann, both 19, are accused of raping the then-16-year-old girl and sexually assaulting her at the Newport Beach home of Haidl’s father, Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl.

Testimony in the trial was delayed this week because the son of Peter Morreale, Spann’s attorney, was seriously injured in a car accident Friday. Hearings regarding the admissibility of certain witnesses, as well as the defense’s motion for a mistrial, will continue today.