Trials of the Miley Cyrus Boys Begin

JOLIET, IL — Two of the men charged with the Miley Cyrus Boys bar beatings went on trial Wednesday.

Daniel Lahey, 28, chose to be tried by a jury. His co-defendant, Robert Krapil, also 28, decided to leave his fate in the hands of Will County Judge David Carlson.

Both trials are running simultaneously before Judge Carlson.

Two witnesses testified on the trial’s first day. Alex Hernandez, 35, and his girlfriend, 33-year-old Jennifer Baranski, both told how another member of the Miley Cyrus crew, 28-year-old Ryan Elliott, punched Hernandez in the head without provocation at the bar Lety’s Place in May 2014. Baranski said Krapil and Lahey kicked and stomped on Hernandez after he hit the ground.

Baranski also said Elliott threw her down on top of Hernandez when she tried to intervene and protect him.

Police said the men were gabbing about Miley Cyrus when they arrived at the bar, and soon after launched the violent assault on Hernandez.

Hernandez and Baranski testified that there were only four other people in the bar when the Miley Cyrus Boys showed up. The place was quiet before the loud, rowdy group got there, they said.

Hernandez was prohibited from testifying about the racist remarks Elliott allegedly made before attacking him. In interviews with Patch, Hernandez said Elliott first ordered him to “take your ass to the other end of the bar with all the other Mexicans,” then let loose with a few ethnic slurs before he, Krapil, Lahey and Jason Palacios, 28, pummeled him and knocked him to the floor.

Baranski tried to shield Hernandez from the blows, she and Hernandez said, but the four men, along with two others who have never been arrested or identified, beat her as well.

Donny Rice, the father of the woman who was tending bar at Lety’s that night, had just stopped by to bring her some dinner when the Miley Cyrus Boys went after Hernandez, he said in previous interviews. Rice, 45, said he told them to stop beating Hernandez and Baranski. They allegedly responded by savagely battering him as well.

Rice and his daughter, Danielle McCalla, were scheduled to testify Thursday.

Elliott was also charged with aggravated battery for breaking the nose of Joliet resident Jim Lanham, 42, with an unprovoked punch at the Essington Road bar On the Rocks in June 2013.

Elliott pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in connection with both attacks and dodged a hate crime charge from the Lety’s Place case. He served 27 days in the Will County jail.

Palacios was allowed to walk free after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. As part of his deal, he agreed to testify against his pals.