Doe’s stint on stand ensues

Marisa O’Neil

The judge in a high-profile gang-rape case had to halt the trial

Thursday and ask the alleged victim for her cooperation after she

burst into tears during intense questioning by a defense attorney and

expressed her frustration to the judge.

Joseph Cavallo, defense attorney for 19-year-old Greg Haidl,

pressed the now 19-year-old woman, referred to in court as Jane Doe,

about inconsistencies in her testimony and statements to police. His

cross-examination asked about her responses regarding three parties

from two interviews, a previous trial and her testimony in court

Wednesday.

“He’s confusing me so much with his questions,” Doe said at one

point, turning to Judge Francisco Briseno. “He’s confusing me so

much, I’m getting frustrated.”

Briseno sent the jury out of the room and pointed at the table

where four defense attorneys and a prosecutor sat. Each one, he told

her, wants to ask her about what she remembers about the July 2002

night in question.

“As difficult as it may be, I need you to help, to stay through

the process,” Briseno told her.

Her comment came after Cavallo followed a line of questioning

given by Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Chuck Middleton the day before.

On Wednesday, Middleton meticulously asked Doe, one at a time, if

she consented to having sex with the three boys at a July 5 party and

to letting them sexually assault her with various objects on top of a

pool table in the Corona del Mar home of former Orange County

Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Greg Haidl’s father.

Each time, she answered, “No.”

On Thursday, Cavallo asked the same questions of Doe, who says she

was passed out drunk at the time of the incident. She again replied,

“No.”

“Do you remember telling these boys no?” Cavallo asked Doe.

“From my recollection, they never asked me that,” she said.

Cavallo asked Doe if she specifically remembered not giving

consent. She said she could not remember.

“Do you know how you could sit there, under penalty of perjury,

and tell us you didn’t give permission and not have a memory of the

event?”

At that point Doe, a tall, slim blond wearing a pale-pink blazer

and skirt, stopped, choked back tears, and turned to the judge.

Prosecutors allege that Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith

Spann plied her with alcohol that night and took advantage of the

16-year-old while she was passed out. The defendants, who were 17 at

the time, videotaped the incident.

A jury deadlocked on the case last year.

In the first trial, Cavallo characterized Doe as a promiscuous,

hard-drinking teen who compulsively lies and was a willing

participant in the encounter.

He continued that approach Thursday, questioning her about a July

4, 2002 party when she drank straight rum and tequila, had sex with

Greg Haidl and Spann and kissed Nachreiner while she was naked in a

swimming pool.

Cavallo pressed her about inconsistencies in stories she told her

parents, police, prosecutors and the court. At one point she burst

into tears, and Briseno sent the jury out of the room to allow her to

compose herself.

Outside the courthouse, Cavallo said the outburst was a ploy to

buy time and get her lies straight.

Middleton, who lodged several objections in court and at one point

echoed Doe’s frustration, said that wasn’t the case.

“The objections I had were because there was a girl on the stand

who was confused by the questions and the way they were being

framed,” he said.

Cavallo’s cross-examination will resume Feb. 22 after a weeklong

court break for a juror’s previously scheduled vacation.

Cavallo, who hired members of the first jury to act as

consultants, said he will continue the harsh questioning, at their

recommendation.

“They thought I wasn’t aggressive enough with her [during the

first trial],” he said.