Deepa Bharath
The prosecution in a gang-rape trial involving the son of an Orange
County assistant sheriff presented witnesses on Tuesday to rebut
defense theories that the girl was conscious during the alleged
assault and did not suffer injuries as a result of it.
Greg Haidl, son of Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Kyle
Nachreiner and Keith Spann are accused of raping an unconscious
16-year-old girl and sexually assaulting her with various objects as
she lay on a pool table in the garage of the Haidls' Corona del Mar
home.
Prosecutors say the three teenagers gave the girl, identified only
as Jane Doe, a mixed drink after which she recalled nothing about the
night of July 5, 2002. The defendants also made a video of the
incident, which has been played for jurors and witnesses several
times.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Hess on Tuesday brought to the stand
neurologist Peter Fotinakes to counter testimony of the defense's
Harris Fisk, who said the girl appeared to be in a conscious state
and aware of her surroundings.
Fotinakes refuted Fisk's opinion as he watched the tape and told
jurors he was looking at "a very intoxicated person who is making
occasional random movements which are not well-directed." When the
girl appears to be brushing her hair away from her face in the video,
all she is doing is flopping her hand over her face, he said.
Her position on the pool table as the teenagers inserted a Snapple
bottle, a fruit juice can, a lighted cigarette and a pool cue, was
consistent with the appearance of women under anesthesia, Fotinakes
said.
"It's not a voluntary position," he said.
Fotinakes also said the girl urinating in the end of the tape was
a clear indication that she had no control over what she did. The
doctor, who said he watched the entire tape, said the girl seemed to
be intoxicated in the beginning even when she was sitting on the
couch talking to the boys.
"She's very intoxicated then," he said. "Her speech is slurred."
Minutes later, when the boys manipulate her body to perform the
sexual acts, she seems "flaccid," Fotinakes said.
"She's flopping around like a rag doll," he observed.
Something "very potent" got into her system, Fotinakes said.
"It was fast-acting," he said. It could have either been a drug or
simply excessive alcohol that left her in an intoxicated state, the
doctor said.
As Nachreiner's attorney John Barnett cross-examined Fotinakes,
the doctor emphasized that this was "basic stuff" and that it didn't
