Girl, 16, said to be 'distraught and angry with jury'

From Stan Wilson
CNN

SANTA ANA, California (CNN) -- A Southern California district attorney will retry three teens accused of raping a female high school student, one day after a judge declared a mistrial, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said.

"We are going to decide over the next few weeks what charges to bring and how to approach the case," Orange County Deputy District Attorney Susan Kang-Schroeder said.

Gregory Haidl, Keith Spann and Kyle Nachreiner, all 19, had been charged with 24 counts, including one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

The jury announced Monday that it was "hopelessly deadlocked" on all 24 counts. (Full story)

Defense attorneys and a middle-aged male juror told CNN that 11 jurors voted "not guilty" on the first four counts -- two counts of rape by intoxication and two counts of oral copulation by intoxication.

The alleged rape was videotaped by Haidl July 5, 2002, during a party at the home of his father, Don Haidl, a top-ranking sheriff's official in Corona del Mar.

Prosecutors relied on the tape as the most critical piece of evidence, telling jurors throughout the trial that all of the crimes can be seen on tape.

The prosecution doesn't feel it overestimated the impact the tape had with the jury, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said Tuesday.

"It's very clear what's happening on the tape," Rackauckas said. The alleged victim is "unconscious, she's flopping around, out of control, being manipulated by these three individuals."

But, Haidl's attorney Peter Scalisi said "science and medicine backs" the defense's contention that Jane Doe was conscious during the incident.

A neurologist hired by the defense testified that in reviewing the tape, he found her to be alert and with the presence of mind to say "no," and yet she said "yes," Scalisi said in an appearance with Rackauckas on CNN.

During the trial, defense attorneys portrayed Doe as a promiscuous, aspiring porn star who agreed to be videotaped.

Scalisi called the depiction "very fair" because that's the way "she truly is."

Prosecutor: Teens may be retried separately

Prosecutors alleged that the girl was seduced, manipulated, and given drugs and alcohol before passing out and being assaulted numerous times as she lay motionless on a pool table.

The 16-year-old girl, identified only as Jane Doe, testified for four days, telling jurors she did not remember anything after having a drink that may have been drugged.

She's resolved to bring the three defendants "to justice," Rackauckas said.

A civil attorney for Jane Doe told CNN that his client was "distraught and angry with the jury" after hearing about the mistrial but said she's willing to take the witness stand again if the teens are retried.

"She was harmed physically and psychologically by what these boys did and, in a sense, it was worse than a stranger doing this to you," said Sheldon Lodmer, who said he plans to file a civil suit after the criminal case is prosecuted.

Kang-Schroeder said prosecutors may seek to retry the teens separately and narrow the charges.

Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno scheduled an August 6 deadline for prosecutors to re-file their case.