Problems likely started early for teens in...

Problems likely started

early for teens in trial

I am not one to be opinionated. To quote a line by William

Shakespeare: “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”

Do we now live in a lawless society? I am wondering what ever

happened to that law we once called statutory rape?

Did we now abolish it? Parents, lock up your toddlers. They are

now prey to sexual predators as long as they comply. To me, this

trial of Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann on charges of

rape and sexual assault should have been a very clear-cut,

open-and-shut case. At the very least, the statutory rape law was

transgressed more than once by these defendants who are now free on

bail.

I cannot believe what I have read in the paper, of an unbelievable

jury decision. Three rapists against one sorrowful, misguided,

underage waif.

Whether Jane Doe was unconscious or not, had a date-rape drug or

not, gave consent or not, had sex with all three the night before or

not, she was clearly a victim of a horrible crime, and statutory rape

is just the tip of the iceberg.

What kind of parents did Jane Doe have? What kind of upbringing

did this individual have?

She is society’s victim. What went wrong in her life? Does that

mean that she is to be abused even more? It is so sad that the weak,

the feeble, the infirmed, those who act vastly different from our

society’s rank and file are subject to being preyed upon. . What

about the parents of the boys? Where were they when morals were

supposed to be taught to children?

Whether a parent is a deputy sheriff or a trash collector, an

attorney or a bus driver, should the responsibility of imparting a

sense of decency to your kids be shirked? Did you think that someone

else would do this very significant part of parenting for you?

Children learn by example. What kind of examples were you

demonstrating to your children?

I sincerely hope that with the next trial, the prosecutor makes a

very clear-cut, uncomplicated case for the jurors, so that justice is

served. As far as advice to the defendants, conscience is the order

of the day.

SHERRIE NEFT

Costa Mesa

‘Teenagers’ misleading: The accused are men

I noticed your paper helped the defense in the trial of the three

teenagers -- Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann -- accused

of rape again by citing “Teenagers face retrial on rape charges,”

June 30.

They were all older than 18, and they were young men. The girl was

the teenager.

The smart-talking attorneys that were hired by their well-to-do

parents turned the trial around, so they’ve got this little girl on

trial instead of the three young men who allegedly did the number on

her.

I hope in the next trial -- and there definitely should be another

trial -- the district attorney’s office will not let this happen

again.

And keep the focus on the three young men, not on the young woman.

Whether she was awake or unconscious at the time that this thing

happened, what they did was an unspeakable crime, and they should be

punished for it.

Their parents evidently don’t feel that their son did anything

wrong. Well, if I had a son and he was involved in anything like

that, I probably wouldn’t speak to him again for the rest of his

life.

So, I hope that the next time the jury will do the right thing and

not let smart-talking attorneys turn the case around and put the

victim on trial instead of the alleged perpetrators.

ROBERT SCHOONMAKER

Newport Beach

Retrial won’t be

good for taxpayers

No, I do not think that retrying the three teenagers accused of

gang-raping Jane Doe is a good use of taxpayer money.

STACIA NADELMAN

Newport Beach