Story Of The Year - 2005: Convicted rapist wants to move on

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the sixth in a series of the top stories of each year since 2000. Look for the 2006 story of the year Sunday.

The attorney for former Newport Beach resident Greg Haidl says his client hopes to move on with his life after serving most of a six-year prison sentence for his role in a sordid sexual assault seven years ago. The victim was a 16-year-old girl who was gang-raped as she was passed out on a pool table in the garage of his father’s Corona del Mar home.

“He’s been very productive,” attorney Dennis Fischer said. “He’s working and has done a great job of moving on with his life and is very positive. He’s been through a lot.”

In 2005, an Orange County jury found Haidl, the son of former Orange County Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, guilty of sexual assault.

Prosecutors had claimed that he was the ringleader of the videotaped gang rape, directing two of his friends as they attacked the inebriated teenage girl with a lit cigarette and pool cue, among other objects.

Haidl, now 24, who was tried as an adult, was released from Pleasant Valley State Prison in January 2008, after getting credit for time served and good behavior.

Haidl’s two co-defendants, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, were released from prison in June 2008.

According to sex offender registration records, Haidl is living in Laguna Beach.

“He’s aware of the controversy surrounding him, and he’s not eager for attention,” Fischer said. “He wants to get his life in order like many people do these days.”

Haidl is in the process of trying to get his conviction overturned by the California Court of Appeal.

A panel of judges heard the case in September and could make a ruling in the case in early 2010.

“I think ultimately he would like vindication and not like to have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life,” Fischer said.