Sexual assault, drugging trial begins for former owner of Grateful Dead-themed bars

Denver prosecutors on Tuesday opened their long-awaited criminal episode against former business owner Jay Bianchi who is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting three women at his Grateful Dead-themed bars between and as well as drugging another man and a woman during that time period This is not about character or lifestyles or choices the casualties may have made mentioned Bree Beasley chief trial deputy at the Denver District Attorney s office and a sexual violence specialist in her opening statements It s not a memory test and it s absolutely not chosen kind of gigantic conspiracy against Jay Bianchi So don t get distracted Focus on the evidence Bianchi was arrested in April and charged with three counts of sexual assault dating to Oct in the block of East Colfax Avenue one count of unlawful sexual contact a misdemeanor on Nov in the block of West First Avenue and three counts of felony sexual assault on April in the same block of West First Avenue He has pleaded not guilty on all counts The first sexual assault alleged by Bonnie Utter took place following a Halloween party at Sancho s Broken Arrow formerly at E Colfax Ave in Utter s friend Kylie Heringer who worked as a sound engineer for Bianchi also alleged that Bianchi groped her the next day in his office at So Countless Roads Brewery formerly at W First Ave and that Bianchi attempted to discredit the women with character assassination and coercion Both of his businesses have since closed The Denver Post is identifying Utter and Heringer because they previously agreed to speak to the newspaper about their experiences Another woman identified during the proceedings alleged she was sexually assaulted by Bianchi in March and a man and a woman separately stated that Bianchi drugged them in the man s circumstance for attempting to intervene in a conflict at Sancho s All will testify as part of the occurrence Beasley commented Bianchi dressed in a black jacket with a maroon tie sat expressionless the bulk of Tuesday as he watched each witness and speaker occasionally taking notes His event has been delayed multiple times as more people have come forward to make insists against him Bianchi who has several past arrests and convictions for drug charges and assault has denied those claims in multiple interviews with The Denver Post His past convictions and arrests were not mentioned on Tuesday The trial which could potentially last through mid-November began Friday with a jury and evidence review that ran through Monday On Tuesday the first observers were called a pair of police detectives and a former nurse from Denver Wellbeing who conducted a sexual-assault examination of Utter after she announced it on Nov Bianchi s defense gang on Tuesday vigorously maintained his innocence In her opening statements deputy state populace defender Megan Jungsun Lee previewed a strategy that will cast the prosecutor s viewers and experts as tainted by misinformation and rumors on social media as well as news reports in The Denver Post and Westword You will hear that during this time that gossip speculation assumptions were repeated again and again Lee declared during opening statements She also cast doubt on the years-long on-and-off Denver Police Department analysis into the assaults which she disclosed had been compromised by the gossip-driven narrative and by news reports Ms Utter was alert Lee mentioned of the events before the alleged assault on Nov noting that defense observers saw Bianchi and Utter cuddled up The pair was guffawing and holding hands as they went downstairs to the basement at Sancho s that night Lee declared That s where Utter explained the assault took place However there was no evidence she was unable to make her own choices despite consuming alcohol cocaine and cannabis that night Lee commented Bianchi did not hand her a drink touch her drink offer her food or offer her drugs Lee added There is no evidence he caused her any kind of fear or made any threat She was fully capable of exercising her own free will The District Attorney s Office spent much of Tuesday afternoon establishing the physical layout of So Various Roads with dozens of on-site photos which included an unidentified substance in a baggie in Bianchi s office where Heringer s assault allegedly took place In March a woman alleged she was raped by Bianchi also at So Various Roads Brewery which was co-owned by Tyler Bishop That bar closed the next month having been the subject of Denver Police Department stings for underage drinking and drug sales Bianchi had also been the subject of protests outside the brewery in June after Utter and Heringer came forward to discuss their experiences first on social media and later with The Denver Post Local musicians who felt they had been mistreated by Bianchi rallied during the protest Related Articles Woman drugged assaulted by Jay Bianchi at Denver s So Plenty of Roads Brewery in April affidavit says So A great number of Roads Brewery closes for real this time in wake of co-founder s arrest on suspicion of sexual assault Jay Bianchi s critics say earlier arrest on sex-assault suspicions could have saved years of new casualties Jay Bianchi fixture in Denver jam band scene arrested on sexual assault charges We will sit here as long as it takes Beasley announced noting that the DA s office will call a mix of eyewitnesses detectives and experts who can comment on toxicology and crime lab results sexual assault consent how memory works and various firsthand details of the analysis Bianchi has been a fixture of Colorado s jam-band scene for more than two decades previously owning and booking bands at Don Quixote -inspired venues including Quixote s True Blue Dulcinea s th Monkey Be on Key Psychedelic Ripple and Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom