Expert testifies date-rape drug likely used
Deepa Bharath
SANTA ANA -- An unconscious 16-year-old girl, allegedly gang-raped by
three teenagers who videotaped the incident, appears to have been
under the influence of a date-rape drug, an expert witness testified
for the prosecution on Monday.
Trinka Porrata, a former detective with the Los Angeles Police
Department who is considered an expert on drugs such as Ecstasy and
GHB, a common date-rape drug, watched different portions of the
20-minute digital videotape and commented on the girl’s movements and
responses, or lack of them.
Greg Haidl, son of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Kyle
Nachreiner and Keith Spann are accused of raping the girl and
sexually assaulting her with various objects in the elder Haidl’s
Corona del Mar home a little less than two years ago. They each face
24 felony counts and up to 55 years and four months in state prison
if convicted.
Answering questions from Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Hess, Porrata said
the girl’s actions, including her “loose muscle tone” and the
“nonresponsiveness of her body as [the defendants] inserted objects
in her body,” were consistent with someone who may have ingested a
date-rape drug such as GHB.
Prosecutors allege that the teens gave her a beer and a “mixed
drink” laced with GHB or a similar drug, which made her unconscious
and lose memory of the entire incident.
The videotape ends with the girl urinating on the pool table where
the teens reportedly assaulted her. Porrata said that in itself “is
consistent with someone on GHB.”
“It’s loss of bladder control, which is quite typical,” she said.
“[The girl] has no real control over her body.”
It is also common for people under the influence of such drugs to
slip in and out of consciousness, Porrata said.
“But it’s not like they’ll sit up and say, ‘Hi, how are you,’” she
said.
They are more likely to react in response to an infliction of
pain, for example, Porrata said.
Defense Atty. John Barnett, who cross-examined Porrata, asked her
if it was possible that the girl was pretending to be unconscious.
Porrata replied that she did not see any reaction from the girl
even as the boys assaulted her with a Snapple bottle, a juice can, a
lighted cigarette and a pool cue.
“When foreign objects are inserted that can cause pain, it’s hard
to pretend not to respond,” she said.
Some date-rape drugs are up to 40 times stronger than Valium,
Porrata said.
The defense has maintained that the sexual acts were consensual
and that the girl was feigning unconsciousness. Prosecutors say one
of the boys handed the girl a mixed drink in a Styrofoam cup after
she arrived in the Haidl residence and told her that if she drank it,
it would “knock her out.”
Haidl’s attorney, Joseph Cavallo, asked Porrata if GHB could
dissolve a Styrofoam cup, to which she answered that the drug, in its
purest form, could melt one of those cups but not if mixed with a
fruit drink or cocktail.
The defense also brought up that no traces of any drugs were
detected in the girl’s vomit or bloodstream. Porrata said that is
typical of date-rape drugs.
“GHB is in the bloodstream for only four hours and can be detected
in urine for only 12 hours after it’s consumed,” she said. “Rarely
does a person come forward within that time frame.”
Testimony will continue today. Prosecutors are expected to put the
girl, known only as “Jane Doe,” on the stand today.
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