Haidl Gang Rape Defendants Lose Appeal

AP pool photo

From left: Kyle Nachreiner, Keith Spann and Gregory Haidl during their original trial in Santa Ana.

​A California Court of Appeal based in Santa Ana this afternoon rejected the appeal of the three convicted defendants in the notorious case known around the world as the Haidl gang rape case.

In a 56-page ruling, the justices determined that Gregory Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann were fairly convicted by the Orange County District Attorney's office despite their post prison sentence attempt to free themselves from sex offender registration for the rest of their lives.

According to the court, the defense efforts to claim that Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno didn't protect their constitutional rights at trial were unfounded.

In July 2002 in Corona del Mar, the defendants got a 16-year-old girl drunk and high, waited for her to pass out and then videotaped themselves raping her. They also repeatedly shoved a Snapple bottle, apple juice can, lit cigarette and a pool cue into the girl's vagina and anus. The defendants were so proud of their film work they showed it to friends and then lost it. The CD eventually landed in the hands of a police officer who thought the defendants had raped a corpse.

The case was notorious because the defendants claimed the knocked out girl had raped them, one of the defendants--Haidl--is the son of a man who was at the time an assistant sheriff of Orange County, and the defense spent millions of dollars soiling the victim's reputation in efforts to escape responsibility for their conduct.

--R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly