LadyGardenSnake

Former adult film actress says video evidence is amateur pornography

By LISA B. McPHERON, Staff Writer

SANTA ANA - An adult film star-turned-health advocate believes the video that Orange County prosecutors said is evidence of a sexual assault is actually amateur pornography.
However, she won't be able to express her opinion to the jury since the judge will not allow her to testify during the rape trial of three Rancho Cucamonga teenagers.

"All in all I think this is a very amateurish attempt at making a porn film," said Sharon Mitchell, who directed, produced or performed in more than 1,000 adult films and co-founded the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation.

The video in question was made nearly two years ago at the Newport Beach home of Don Haidl, an Orange County assistant sheriff.

Haidl's son Gregory Haidl, now 18, and Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both 19, are on trial for raping and sexually assaulting an unconscious 16-year-old girl, also from Rancho Cucamonga.

Haidl owns the camera the three defendants used to record the 20-minute alleged assault.

On Wednesday, Mitchell testified outside the jury's presence so the judge could determine if her testimony is appropriate for the trial. She said the video had aspects of professional pornography techniques, including camera angles and sexual positions.

"You have to have a degree of athletic ability and clearly be conscious," Mitchell said of one of the positions.

Previously, former friends of the accuser testified that around the time of the alleged assault, the 16-year-old girl bragged about being a porn star after viewing a short video of consensual sex she had with Spann.

However, it also surfaced during the testimony of former friends Melissa Matsumoto and Vanessa Obmann, both Rancho Cucamonga High School seniors, that they went over their testimonies together and had read transcripts of the alleged victim's testimony from the trial before they testified. Generally, witnesses are told not to discuss their testimony with other witnesses.

Prosecutor Dan Hess argued there is no connection between Mitchell's opinion of the alleged rape tape and the trial.

Judge Francisco Briseno warned defense attorney Peter Scalisi before Mitchell testified that it was "highly unlikely" he would allow her to testify before the jury.

"You're at the bottom of Mt. Suribachi with no gun and no food," Briseno told Scalisi, a reference to World War II Marines storming the island of Iwo Jima.

Scalisi attempted to sway the judge, but Briseno didn't bite.

"We have an expert who has worked in the field," Scalisi said. "And she says it's consistent with a pornographic film."

The defense is also trying to allow two adult films of women acting as though unconscious to be admitted as evidence in an attempt to get a date-rape drug expert to testify that the sex actresses look to be under the influence of a drug.

Previously, Trinka Porrata, a date-rape drug expert, testified that the 16-year-old girl looked as if she were drugged during the alleged assault. Her lack of muscle response to the boys inserting foreign objects into her are clear indicators the girl was under the influence of a sedative, she said.

The judge has not yet ruled if he will allow the two films and the actresses to appear in court.

Today, the judge is expected to rule on motions including whether Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona must testify, and if the defense has presented grounds for a mistrial.

Defense attorneys have asked the judge for a mistrial because, they argue, the prosecution failed to divulge information about injuries the girl sustained from the alleged assault.