Defense says politics push rape case

Deepa Bharath

The defense for a top-ranked county official’s son who is accused of

raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl argued Thursday that the

Orange County district attorney singled out their client for unfair

treatment and put politics before justice because of his father’s

position.

Greg Haidl, son of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl,

faces 55 years and four months in state prison if convicted of all

charges. Although two other teenagers, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith

Spann, also face charges for their involvement in the incident, Greg

Haidl’s defense team argued that Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas jumped

on the case because he saw an opportunity to clean up his tarnished

political image by charging the son of his political ally.

Judge Francisco Briseno heard arguments on Thursday on a motion

filed by Greg Haidl’s attorneys asking to take the district attorney

off the case because of conflict of interest: Don Haidl contributed

to Rackauckas’ election campaigns.

The state attorney general filed an opinion on Tuesday stating

that there was no conflict of interest and that the charges were

justified based on the evidence -- a 20-minute videotape that shows

the incident that allegedly occurred in Don Haidl’s Corona del Mar

home on July 6, 2002.

Joseph Cavallo, lead attorney for Greg Haidl, said this case

unfairly targets his client.

“This is not about a videotape,” he said. “This case is not about

an assistant sheriff. This case involves a political climate in this

county.”

The district attorney and the Newport Beach Police Department

jumped on the case when they saw the opportunity, Cavallo said. Five

deputy district attorneys watched the videotape together to “concoct

charges,” he said. Cavallo also said that Newport Beach Police Chief

Bob McDonell was eager to file the case because he did not favor

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona.

“This is a whole web coming together to use this little boy as a

scapegoat for their own political game,” Cavallo said, firmly placing

his hands on the shoulders of Greg Haidl, who was present during the

hearing. “This is a political prosecution.”

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said he believes his

department did a thorough investigation on the case.

“It’s the district attorney’s case now,” he said. “It’s out of our

hands now.”

Cavallo’s statements about McDonell’s animosity toward the sheriff

are unfounded, Shulman added.

“Mr. Cavallo has made several inaccurate statements,” Shulman

said. “We believe this to be no different.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Gurwitz said the district attorney filed

the case on the basis of evidence, not politics.

Defense attorneys had also filed motions alleging prosecutorial

misconduct on the part of deputy district attorneys Jana Hoffmann and

Camille Hill.

The judge did not rule on the motion to remove the district

attorney from the case on Thursday because the attorney general had

not seen the motions relating to the conduct.

The judge did rule that Deputy Dist. Atty. Jana Hoffmann committed

an error when she got a protective order for the victim in an Orange

County court to prevent her from having to testify in a civil case

filed by Greg Haidl’s mother in San Bernardino. He also said Deputy

Dist. Atty. Camille Hill made a mistake when she asked a DNA expert

not to talk to defense attorneys. Their behavior in those instances

did not amount to misconduct, though, the judge said.

The judge has yet to hear evidence on two other instances of

misconduct alleged on Tuesday. The defense made motions to remove

Hill and Hoffmann from the case, but the judge kept those pending

because neither Hill nor Hoffmann are involved with the case anymore.

Pete Scalisi, also a member of Greg Haidl’s defense team, said the

judge’s ruling that the attorneys had committed errors “reflects

badly on the district attorney’s office.”

“It validates the fact that they are not playing by their rules,”

he said. “In my 25 years as an attorney, I’ve never seen a judge make

such a ruling against a prosecutor.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Schroeder said the case was never

motivated by politics.

“We agree with what the attorney general said in the filed

opinion,” she said. “This case and the charges are entirely based on

the evidence.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].