California Court of Appeal Affirms Greg Haidl Sexual Assault Conviction

The AP reports:

A California appeals court has affirmed the sexual-assault conviction of the son of a former Orange County assistant sheriff and two friends in the videotaped sex assault of an unconscious teenage girl.

The 4th District Court of Appeal on Tuesday dismissed arguments from lawyers for Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann that Superior Court jurors should have heard about the victim’s prior sexual and drug activity and the convictions should be overturned.

Haidl argued, among other things, that the trial court erred by excluding evidence from trial regarding the victim’s prior sexual history.  The Court of Appeal rejected the argument on the grounds that when a defendant is charged with rape by intoxication, the focus is on the victim’s ability to consent to sexual activity, not whether she actually consented.  The unpublished opinion is available here.