Brandon J.

Baxter (#9122)
PECK HADFIELD BAXTER & MOORE, LLC
399 North Main Street, Suite 300
P.O. Box 675
Logan, Utah 84321
Telephone: (435)787-9700
Facsimile: (435)787-2455
Email: bbaxter@peckhadfield.com
Attorneys for Plaintiff

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

COUNTY OF CACHE, STATE OF UTAH

JAIME CALIENDO,
COMPLAINT and JURY DEMAND
Plaintiff,
(Tier 3)
v.

R. DENNIS HIRST, Civil No.:

Defendant. Judge:

COMES NOW Plaintiff Jaime Caliendo, through counsel, and alleges against Defendant

R. Dennis Hirst as follows:

PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff Jaime Caliendo (“Jaime”) is a resident of Cache County, Utah.

2. Defendant R. Dennis Hirst (“Dennis”) is a resident of Cache County, Utah.

3. Jurisdiction in Utah is proper under Utah Code Ann. § 78B-3-205.

4. Venue in Cache County is proper under Utah Code Ann. § 78B-3-307.

 GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

Youth Conservatory

5. The piano department at Utah State University (“USU”) runs a piano instruction

program for pre-college youth that is staffed primarily by USU piano majors and called the

Youth Conservatory.

6. In 1987, Jaime began studying piano with Professor Gary Amano at Utah State

University (“USU”) as part of the Youth Conservatory when she was 11 years old.

7. Every weekend, Jaime’s family traveled 180 miles each way between Logan and

their home in Idaho for piano lessons with Professor Amano and Betty Beecher, another piano

professor at USU who taught Jaime’s three younger sisters.

8. They also attended summer piano clinics at USU and lived in Logan for brief

periods of time during a few different summers as the children prepared for competitions and

needed more frequent lessons.

9. Sometime during 1992 or 1993, Jaime met Eugene Watanabe, who had recently

graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

10. Eugene was not a student at USU but was living in Logan and studying piano

with Professor Amano, who had been his childhood teacher, in preparation for Eugene’s

participation in upcoming piano performance competitions.

11. Eugene befriended and mentored Jaime, and the two became good friends.

12. In the fall of 1993, Jaime began attending USU as a freshman piano performance

major. She turned 17 in October of that year.

2
 Dennis Hirst

13. At about the same time, Jaime met Dennis.

14. Dennis had recently graduated from college in Bowling Green State University in

Ohio, where he studied bassoon.

15. Dennis had studied piano with Betty Beecher as a child and knew Professor

Amano through the Youth Conservatory.

16. Dennis was also a good friend of Eugene’s.

17. After graduating from college in Ohio, Dennis approached Professor Amano for a

job in the Youth Conservatory.

18. Professor Amano hired Dennis to work for USU in the Youth Conservatory

office.

19. As a freshman, Jaime did not teach any Youth Conservatory students, and because

Dennis played the bassoon she was not well acquainted with him at first.

20. Jaime became better acquainted with Dennis as she socialized with him together

with Eugene and other friends.

Eugene and Friends

21. By February 1994, Jaime and Eugene were dating.

22. Several times during that school year, Jaime was in Dennis’s apartment with

Eugene and other friends, and Jaime, Eugene, Dennis, and their group of friends also often dined

out together.

23. In the spring of 1994, Eugene moved to Salt Lake City.

3
 24. Jaime and Eugene still considered themselves a couple, but after his move they

had fewer opportunities to see each other.

25. After Eugene’s move, Jaime continued to socialize with Dennis and their other

friends in Logan.

26. By that time, Jaime had been friends with Dennis for some months, and

socializing with him while Eugene was out of town felt normal and comfortable.

27. Dennis was Jaime’s friend, but she had no romantic interest in him.

28. Unbeknownst to Jaime, however, Dennis had interest in her and was confiding

that interest to Professor Amano.

29. Dennis was 23 years old. Jaime was 17.

30. For purposes of civil torts, Jaime was unable to consent to sexual contact. See

Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-5-404 & -406(11) (1990); Elkington v. Foust, 618 P.2d 37, 40 (Utah

1980); Larsen v. Davis Cnty. Sch. Dist., 2017 UT App 221, ¶¶ 31-37, 409 P.3d 114.

Dennis Invites Jaime to His Apartment

31. Dennis lived alone in an apartment at 290 North 200 East, #3, in Logan, Utah.

32. After Eugene moved to Salt Lake City, Dennis invited Jaime over to his

apartment.

33. Jaime accepted the invitation, and Dennis helped her with her music theory

homework while he carved bassoon reeds. They listened to music, talked, and then watched a

movie until late.

34. At one point during the evening, Jaime called Eugene.

4
 35. As it grew late, Dennis told Jaime that she could lie down on his bed and sleep

rather than drive home.

36. Unaware of Dennis’s romantic interest in her, Jaime accepted Dennis’s offer and

fell asleep on his bed on top of the blankets. No physical contact occurred between them.

37. The next morning, Jaime awoke to Dennis playing music on the stereo. She left

soon thereafter.

38. Dennis reported later to Professor Amano that during Jaime’s visits he had gotten

into bed with her and that he had ejaculated, things Jaime did not learn until years later.

39. When Dennis told Professor Amano that he got into bed with Jaime, Professor

Amano told Dennis that he did not want to hear more and that Dennis should tell Jaime not to

come to his apartment again.

Dennis Invites Jaime to Visit a Second Time

40. Nevertheless, sometime later, Dennis invited Jaime to his apartment again.

41. Still unaware of Dennis’s romantic interest in her or that he had gotten into the

bed after she had fallen asleep during the previous visit, Jaime accepted the invitation.

42. During this visit, Dennis and Jaime sat and talked for a long time on his couch.

Toward the end of the conversation, Dennis expressed his romantic interest in Jaime.

43. Jaime was surprised because she only viewed Dennis as a friend.

44. Then Dennis aggressively came on to Jaime. He kissed her and then lifted her

shirt, pulled open her bra, and groped her breasts with his hands, then his mouth.

45. Jaime objected, but Dennis didn’t stop.

5
 46. Jaime moved away from Dennis, pulled down her shirt, and told him that she did

not want a romantic or physically intimate relationship with him. Jaime was 17 years old.

47. Dennis indicated that he understood, and Jaime left.

Still Friends

48. For some time after that, Dennis did not invite Jaime to Dennis’s apartment. But

they continued to be friends.

49. Once during the weeks that followed, they both had hot chocolate at Café Ibis; on

another occasion they drove together to Preston, Idaho; once they drove to Dennis’s parents’

home near Richmond, Utah.

50. During those encounters, Dennis did not say or do anything inappropriate, causing

Jaime to believe that he understood and respected her boundaries and her lack of romantic

interest in him.

Dennis Invites Jaime to His Apartment a Third Time

51. On an evening during late May 1994, Dennis again invited Jaime to his

apartment. She was still 17 years old.

52. This visit began with them talking and doing homework, Dennis carving bassoon

reeds, and the two of them watching a movie.

53. After the movie, Dennis said that he had a new CD he wanted Jaime to hear.

54. The basement apartment was damp and chilly, so Dennis turned the fireplace on,

and Jaime lied on the floor in front of it to listen.

55. While listening to the CD, Jaime fell asleep.

56. Sometime later, Jaime awoke in the dark to a sharp, repeating pain.

6
 57. She was on her back, her pants were partly down, and Dennis was pressed against

her, thrusting his hand and/or fingers in and out of Jaime’s vagina.

58. Jaime was terrified. She did not dare to move or make a noise, afraid of what

Dennis would do if he knew she had awakened.

59. The pain became intense, and Jaime tried to move her hips to alleviate the pain.

60. Dennis kept thrusting his hand and moving his body against hers for what seemed

like a long time.

61. When Dennis stopped, Jaime hurriedly ran to the bathroom and locked the door.

62. She climbed on the bathroom counter and tried to get out the window but realized

that her car keys were still on the kitchen table.

63. She then stayed in the bathroom for what seemed like a long time, afraid to face

Dennis.

64. Finally, he knocked on the door and asked if “everything [was] okay in there.”

65. Jaime felt sick and wanted to scream, but she also did not want Dennis to know

how scared she was.

66. Jaime opened the door, and Dennis was standing outside it.

67. He stared at Jaime as she backed into the kitchen and moved toward the front

door, keeping the kitchen counter and then the table between him and her.

68. Dennis was talking, but Jaime could not understand what he was saying—

everything felt to her like it was moving in slow motion.

7
 69. Dennis tracked along the other side of the kitchen table, between Jaime and the

door, and Jaime felt trapped. To get to the door, she would have to come from behind the table

and pass Dennis.

70. Dennis kept a container of coins next to the door and retrieved a penny. Pushing it

across the table, he said: “Penny for your thoughts.”

71. Jaime told him she had nothing to say, and the two of them stood across the table

from each other for what again seemed like a long time.

72. Dennis retrieved a second penny and repeated the same thing.

73. Jaime stepped to the side of the table toward the door.

74. Dennis moved toward her, and Jaime yanked the door open, sprinted up the stairs,

and drove away. It was beginning to get light, but the sun was not up.

75. When Jaime reached her apartment, she showered until the water turned cold.

76. At some point, she realized she was bleeding. The bleeding continued for three

weeks. Jaime worried constantly until it stopped, but she was too ashamed, confused, and scared

to tell anyone what Dennis had done.

Police Report

77. Dennis had been confiding in Professor Amano; and, in June 1994, Professor

Amano called Jaime’s mother, saying that he understood that Dennis had been intimate with

Jaime.

78. On June 30, 1994, Jaime’s mother called Jaime and demanded to know what was

going on.

8
 79. Jaime’s mother told her that Professor Amano was angry because Eugene had

been told that Dennis and Jaime were having sex, and that had interfered with Eugene’s ability to

prepare for and perform well at his piano competition.

80. Jaime then told her mother in general terms what Dennis had done.

81. Her parents drove from Idaho that night to take Jaime to the police. They arrived

at the Logan City police station around 2:30 a.m. on July 1, 1994.

82. Jaime’s parents stayed outside the interview room as Jaime spoke to an officer.

Jaime did not want them to hear the graphic details of what had happened to her.

83. Jaime was also deeply embarrassed to have to describe her body parts and

Dennis’s actions to an adult male stranger.

84. The police told Jaime’s parents to have her examined by a doctor.

Physical Examination

85. Within the week, Jaime was seen by a local gynecologist who was told that she

had been sexually assaulted but not given the details of the assault.

86. After examining Jaime, he told Jaime’s mother that Jaime’s hymen had been

broken.

Dennis Refuses to Speak to the Police

87. The police also contacted Dennis, who refused to speak without an attorney.

88. Dennis then went to Professor Amano’s home and told him that Jaime was

pressing charges.

89. Dennis asked Professor Amano to talk with Dennis’s attorney.

9
 90. Professor Amano did but did not know the details of what Dennis had done and

assumed that whatever had happened between Jaime and Dennis was consensual.

91. A police detective again contacted Dennis, and Dennis again refused to talk.

92. The police did not pursue the matter further.

93. Dennis kept his job at the Youth Conservatory, and when school started in the

fall, Professor Amano assigned Jaime a practice room in another building.

94. The following school year, Dennis was assigned to the small panel of faculty

members who observed and graded the recitals that Jaime was required to perform for her major.

Aftermath

95. Shortly after speaking with the police, Jaime began having constant, violent

nightmares that have continued off and on through today.

96. The police initially referred Jaime to a counselor at CAPSA, and Jaime met with

her counselor several times through the summer and fall of 1994.

97. For the first year after reporting to police, Jaime contemplated suicide regularly.

98. The following year, Jaime experienced additional stress and anxiety due to having

to perform her graded piano recitals in front of a small group of faculty that included Dennis.

99. In the years since, Jaime has experienced some periods of emotional and mental

calm, but also long periods of emotional freefall—afraid to sleep because of the nightmares and

afraid to be awake because of the flashbacks. She has recurrently experienced suicidal thoughts

and has planned her suicide.

10
 100. In 1998, Jaime married, and from the fall of 2007 through the spring of 2009,

Dennis repeatedly walked the sidewalk in front of Jaime’s home, stopping and staring at Jaime

and her children. These actions aggravated the ongoing emotional distress that Jaime was

experiencing.

101. Jaime has received intermittent professional and ecclesiastical counseling for the

emotional distress caused by Dennis.

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION

Sexual Assault
(Second Visit)

102. Jaime re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 101 by reference.

103. During Jaime’s second visit to Dennis’s apartment, described in paragraphs 40 to

47 above, Dennis intended to cause physical contact with Jaime or he intended to cause Jaime to

have an imminent apprehension of physical contact, including but not limited to when he went to

kiss Jaime, lift her shirt, pull open her bra, grope her breasts with his hands, and grope her

breasts with his mouth, and when he went to do those things again after she objected.

104. During that visit, Jaime was put in imminent apprehension of contact by Dennis,

including but not limited to imminent apprehension of his kissing, lifting her shirt, pulling open

her bra, groping her breasts with his hands, groping her breasts with his mouth, and apprehension

of continued contact of that kind after she objected.

105. The physical contact, the imminent apprehension of which Dennis put Jaime in,

was harmful and offensive.

106. Jaime did not consent to the physical contact or the imminent apprehension of the

contact that occurred during that visit.

11
 107. Jaime was 17 years old and legally incapable of consenting to the physical contact

or the imminent apprehension of the contact that occurred during that visit.

108. The imminent apprehension of harmful or offensive contact from Dennis during

this visit caused Jaime to suffer and continue to suffer damages.

109. Dennis’s conduct constituting assault during this visit was willful and wonton,

was with reckless disregard of the consequences, manifested a knowing and reckless indifference

toward, and a disregard of, Jaime’s rights, and was done under such circumstances and

conditions that a reasonable person would know, or would have reason to know, that such

conduct would, with a high degree of probability, result in harm to Jaime.

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION

Sexual Battery
(Second Visit)

110. Jaime re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 109 by reference.

111. During Jaime’s second visit to Dennis’s apartment, described in paragraphs 40 to

47 above, Dennis intended to cause physical contact with Jaime.

112. During that visit, Dennis in fact caused physical contact with Jaime, including but

not limited to when he kissed her, lifted her shirt, pulled open her bra, groped her breasts with his

hands, groped her breasts with his mouth, and when he continued doing those things after she

objected.

113. Dennis’s physical contact with Jaime during that visit was harmful and offensive.

114. Jaime did not consent to the physical contact that occurred during that visit.

115. Jaime was 17 years old and legally incapable of consenting to the physical contact

that occurred during that visit.

12
 116. The harmful or offensive contact from Dennis during this visit caused Jaime to

suffer and continue to suffer damages.

117. Dennis’s conduct constituting battery during this visit was willful and wonton,

was with reckless disregard of the consequences, manifested a knowing and reckless indifference

toward, and a disregard of, Jaime’s rights, and was done under such circumstances and

conditions that a reasonable person would know, or would have reason to know, that such

conduct would, with a high degree of probability, result in harm to Jaime.

THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION

Sexual Battery
(Third Visit)

118. Jaime re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 117 by reference.

119. During Jaime’s third visit to Dennis’s apartment, described in paragraphs 51 to 76

above, Dennis intended to cause physical contact with Jaime.

120. During that visit, Dennis in fact caused physical contact with Jaime, including but

not limited to when he pulled Jaime’s pants down, pressed against her, and repeatedly thrust his

hand and/or fingers in and out of Jaime’s vagina.

121. Dennis’s physical contact with Jaime during that visit was harmful and offensive.

122. Jaime did not consent to the physical contact that occurred during that visit.

123. Jaime was 17 years old and legally incapable of consenting to the physical contact

that occurred during that visit.

124. The harmful or offensive contact from Dennis during this visit caused Jaime to

suffer and continue to suffer damages.

13
 125. Dennis’s conduct constituting battery during this visit to Dennis’s apartment was

willful and wonton, was with reckless disregard of the consequences, manifested a knowing and

reckless indifference toward, and a disregard of, Jaime’s rights, and was done under such

circumstances and conditions that a reasonable person would know, or would have reason to

know, that such conduct would, with a high degree of probability, result in harm to Jaime.

FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION

Assault
(Third Visit)

126. Jaime re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 125 by reference.

127. During Jaime’s third visit to Dennis’s apartment, described in paragraphs 51 to 76

above, Dennis intended to cause physical contact with Jaime, or he intended to cause Jaime to

have an imminent apprehension of physical contact, including but not limited to when she exited

the bathroom and when he moved toward her as she moved from behind the table and toward the

door.

128. During that visit, Jaime was put in imminent apprehension of contact by Dennis,

including but not limited to imminent apprehension of his causing physical contact when she

exited the bathroom and when he moved toward her as she moved from behind the table and

toward the door.

129. The physical contact, the imminent apprehension of which Dennis put Jaime in,

was harmful and offensive.

130. Jaime did not consent to the physical contact or the imminent apprehension of the

contact that Dennis put her in imminent apprehension of during that visit.

14
 131. Jaime was 17 years old and legally incapable of consenting to the physical contact

or the imminent apprehension of the contact that Dennis put her in imminent apprehension of

during that visit.

132. The imminent apprehension of harmful or offensive contact from Dennis during

this visit caused Jaime to suffer and continue to suffer damages.

133. Dennis’s conduct constituting assault during this visit was willful and wonton,

was with reckless disregard of the consequences, manifested a knowing and reckless indifference

toward, and a disregard of, Jaime’s rights, and was done under such circumstances and

conditions that a reasonable person would know, or would have reason to know, that such

conduct would, with a high degree of probability, result in harm to Jaime.

FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

134. Jaime re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1through 133 by reference.

135. Dennis intentionally engaged in the conduct toward Jaime alleged above.

136. Dennis’s conduct toward Jaime that is alleged above is considered outrageous and

intolerable in that it offends the generally accepted standards of decency and morality.

137. Dennis engaged in the outrageous and intolerable conduct alleged above with the

purpose of inflicting emotional distress or where any reasonable person would have known that

emotional distress would result.

138. Dennis’s outrageous and intolerable conduct alleged above directly caused and

continues to cause Jaime severe emotional distress.

139. Dennis’s conduct constituting intentional infliction of emotional distress was

willful and wonton, was with reckless disregard of the consequences, manifested a knowing and

15
reckless indifference toward, and a disregard of, Jaime’s rights, and was done under such

circumstances and conditions that a reasonable person would know, or would have reason to

know, that such conduct would, with a high degree of probability, result in harm to Jaime.

SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION

Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress

140. Jaime re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 139 by reference.

141. Dennis intentionally engaged in the conduct toward Jaime alleged above.

142. Dennis should have realized that his conduct that is alleged above involved an

unreasonable risk of causing emotional distress.

143. From the facts known to him, Dennis should have realized that the emotional

distress, if it were caused, might result in illness or bodily harm.

144. Dennis’s conduct that is alleged above caused and continues to cause Jaime

severe emotional distress.

JURY DEMAND

Jaime requests a trial by jury.

DEFINITION OF TIER FOR STANDARD DISCOVERY

Jaime claims past and future economic and non-economic damages in excess of

$300,000, qualifying this case for standard discovery under TIER 3 pursuant to rules 26(c)(3)

and 8(a) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure.

16
WHEREFORE, Jaime prays for the following relief:

A. For judgment against Dennis for economic and non-economic damages in an

amount to be determined at trial;

B. Punitive damages;

C. Attorney’s fees, court costs, and prejudgment and post-judgment interest;

D. Any other relief that the Court deems equitable, just, and appropriate under the

circumstances.

DATED this 17th day of September 2018.

PECK HADFIELD BAXTER & MOORE, LLC

/s/ Brandon J. Baxter

Brandon J. Baxter
Attorneys for Plaintiff

17