Fitness hearing to be closed to the public

A hearing to decide whether three young men will be sentenced as

juveniles or adults for sexually assaulting an unconscious

16-year-old girl, will be held behind closed doors, an Orange County

Superior Court Judge decided Friday.

Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, all 20, were tried as

adults and convicted in March of sexual assault. The defendants were

acquitted on rape charges but were convicted of multiple charges of

sexual penetration with a foreign object.

Haidl was convicted of six counts, Spann of five and Nachreiner of

four.

Outside court Friday, lawyers said little about the hearing.

“Unfortunately, all I can tell you is that today we discussed

procedural issues in terms of when we’re going to have a fitness

hearing,” said Haidl defense lawyer Pete Scalisi.

The offenses they were convicted of allow the hearing to be held

privately in juvenile court, Scalisi said. The crimes are not

categorized as serious, violent offenses, and therefore, do not

require a hearing to be open to the public, Scalisi said.

Haidl, the son of former Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don

Haidl, and the other two defendants were under 18 in 2002, when the

incident was videotaped at the Haidl home in Corona del Mar.

If sentenced as juveniles, the maximum sentence would put them in

the California Youth Authority until they are 25 or for two years

from the date the sentence begins.

If sentenced as adults, the maximum prison sentence is 18 years

for Haidl, 16 for Spann and 14 for Nachreiner.

The defense has said it believes all three men should be sentenced

as juveniles, because they were juveniles when the incident occurred.

Lawyers met behind closed doors for nearly three hours early

Friday in the Santa Ana courtroom, where the sentencing hearing was

scheduled to be heard. The public was allowed inside for several

minutes, while Judge Francisco Briseno explained why the proceedings

would not be public.

“We have found this morning that there was a difference of opinion

on various subjects,” Briseno said.

Also in court Friday, the three defendants waived their rights to

have separate fitness hearings, electing instead, to have a joint

hearing.

Haidl, Nachreiner and Spann were evaluated by the probation

department and the reports were given to the defense Tuesday, Scalisi

said.

Scalisi said the defense still needs time to react to the reports

and prepare for the fitness hearing. Scalisi would not comment as to

the content of the probation reports.

The defense wanted the hearings to be closed to the public because

it was in the best interest of their clients, Scalisi said.

Scalisi said outside court Friday that the three young men were

not doing well in custody.

“They’re all suffering. They miss their families,” Scalisi said.

The fitness hearing has been continued to Oct. 21, according to

the Orange County district attorney’s office.