Haidl testimony in Carona corruption trial is almost too brazen to believe
DANA PARSONS
The sentences came out clipped. If one or two words could answer a question, that's what the courtroom got. More than once during his first couple days on the witness stand, he had to be reminded to speak into the microphone, because many of his words seemed to be dying about six inches after they left his mouth.
If Don Haidl had a story to tell in federal court this week, it wasn't going to come with any mustard on it. As Assistant U.S. Atty. Brett Sagel shepherded Haidl through his role in the allegedly corrupt administration of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, the dark-suited Haidl told a laconic tale of greed and power that in some respects seemed to defy credibility.
Not that Haidl, who is cooperating as a government witness in the hopes of a lighter sentence after a guilty plea to filing a false federal tax return, came across as a liar. It was more that the behind-the-scenes look he provided of Carona's former inner circle involved such brazen and seemingly mindless corruption that it left you shaking your head.
If Haidl's testimony, which is continuing today, is to be believed, jurors must accept that:
Within days of meeting Haidl for the first time -- about three months before Carona captured the sheriff's post in 1998 -- then-candidate Carona and his top aide George Jaramillo talked to Haidl about skirting campaign-finance laws.
Within two to four weeks of that first meeting, Carona, who was married, told Haidl that Jaramillo's law partner Debra Hoffman was Carona's girlfriend.
At their first meeting, Carona talked with Haidl about a future role in a Carona administration. They talked about Haidl getting a "get out of jail free card" and sharing in profits from future business deals that would come their way. About four months later, Carona offered Haidl the job of assistant sheriff and Haidl accepted.
Within six months of meeting Haidl, Carona began going to Haidl's Newport Beach home around the first of every month to pick up envelopes containing $1,000 in cash. Haidl described the payments as a form of insurance for himself against Carona taking money from others and, therefore, potentially bringing down his administration. The government's indictment alleges that Haidl gave Carona about $48,000 in cash between 1998 and mid-2002.
