EVERETT, Wash. - Three of five so-called "bikini baristas" facing prostitution charges appeared in an Everett Municipal Court room Thursday morning. A fourth didn't show up and now has a warrant out for her arrest.
The women work for the "Grab-N-Go Bikini Hut" at 19th Ave. SE and 132 St. SE.
According to undercover police, the women were caught posing for nude pictures and, in some cases, allowing customers to touch them for tips.
Of the three appearing during the morning hearing, Dana Fizpatrick is now scheduled for a jury trial on February 22nd, Leloni Bailey will have another motion hearing on March 25th and Kristina Evenson will appear for a non-jury, or "bench trial," before a judge on March 2nd. Evenson's attorney is confident her case will be dismissed.
"In my opinion, at least three of the charges (against the women), I'm not going to go into which ones, are extremely weak and I think the girls are young and don't have a lot of criminal history," said Brian Ashbach, Evenson's attorney. "In my case (his client's case) zero, except for this alleged incident or incidents. So, I think it would probably be the most reasonable outcome that could happen."
Samantha Lancaster was the barista who did not appear in court as scheduled. A warrant for her arrest was issued.
A fifth woman, Alexis Quigley, was set to appear in the afternoon.
Even though none of the women is charged with performing sex acts, they were cited for prostitution, a gross misdemeanor.
The women face up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.
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