"Haidlgate" Finally Closes

Picking a fractal for today’s post wasn’t easy: I finally settled on an image called Fracture--mainly because of the title rather than the pretty image The “Haidl Trial” was the first blow that destroyed “America’s Sherriff” Mike Carona’s career--and destroyed several other lives. The trial and prison sentances are over now but I still feel the need to comment.
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So the sad, sad, Haidl saga has finally come to an end: last week Greg Haidl was released from prison after serving less than two years of a six-year sentence for rape. Co-defendants Keith Spann and Kyle Nachriner finished their sentences earlier this year. It took two trials to get the convictions and it was one of the saddest (if spectacular) trials in recent Orange County history.
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For those of you who don’t know the story of what happened, here’s a quick recap: Gregg Haidl, Keith Spann and Kyle Nachriner drugged and assaulted a “Jane Doe” on the family pool table, raped her with a pool cue, burned her with cigarettes and taped their performance to share with friends. (It is important to note that Greg is the son of then-Undersherriff Don Haidl.) During the trial the victim was portrayed as a “wanna-be porn star” who fully cooperated in what happened (and even enjoyed it). During the first trial the Orange County District Attorney charged them with everything he could think of: the trial ended with a hopelessly deadlocked jury. The charges were substantially reduced in Trial #2 (and they still didn’t win convictions on everything. (At least all three are going to have to register as Sex Offenders for the rest of their lives.)
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More than anything else, what disturbed me most about the trial (other than how horribly the victim was treated) was the absolute arrogance of the three defendants. None of them seemed the least bit sorry to me--even after being convicted. It’s hard to think that these three young men could be so cruel and not have the slightest bit of conscience about what they did. Maybe their time in prison will have changed them for the better but frankly I doubt it. I’d also like to think that we’ve heard the last of this loser trio but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that Haidl the younger is back in the news for doing something equally heinous (if not more so).
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I know a $26 Million Dollar lawsuit was filed--but I don’t know if the trial has happened or if their has been any kind of settlement reached. But if this case SHOULD go to trial it’s going to be a huge and very ugly mess. A lot of more-than-questionable things happened during the criminal trials (like the victims true identity being broadcast and her medical records being released) so I fully expect the Civil Trial (if it happens) is going to be even worse.
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I’ll be very interested to see what happens with the civil case but there is something about the past cases that has bugged me since Day One. Police came to the Haidl residence but found the pool table cover and the carpet had been changed as well as the couch removed.--and it took less than twelve hours. That had to take A LOT of cash (thank God Don Haidl is a multimillionaire). I’m no Lawyer but in my view this was clearly as case of evidence-tampering (or worse) and yet NOBODY was ever charged and during the trial the Prosecution barely made mention of this fact. Was that because Don Haidl was “BFF” with then-Sherriff Mike Carona? I don’t know--but it is painfully clear that the police investigation was sloppy at best because of his position and connections.
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If anything “good” can be said to have come out of this--it’s the fact that it got people looking into the way the Orange County Sherriff’s Department was run. People stopped buying the hype and started taking a hard look at things that had been ignored or unnoticed for far too long. The victim was no saint but she didn’t deserve what happened to her: I only hope the incident was enough to giver her a wakeup call on how she is living her life. I also hope is serves as a wakeup call to any girls who should decide to hook up with the three defendants. Considering what these boys were willing to put on tape I wonder what they are willing to do behind closed doors. Ladies beware.