A former UC Santa Barbara student convicted of rape made his first appearance in Superior Court Tuesday afternoon since he was found guilty and attempted to flee from custody last month. 

The hearing was regarding 14 other charges in Arian Eteghaei’s case on which the jury was deadlocked.

Deputy District Attorney Lauren Franco told Judge Brian Aronson that the District Attorney’s Office does not plan to proceed with the charges and will dismiss them. 

In January, a Santa Barbara jury found Eteghaei, 23, guilty of sexual penetration with a foreign object and domestic violence battery against his ex-girlfriend, identified as Jane Doe H.O.C., and forcible rape against a woman identified as Jane Doe M.E.

The jury was deadlocked on the other counts after the three-month trial.

Those charges were related to separate alleged assaults on four other women. 

Eteghaei appeared Tuesday afternoon wearing an orange Santa Barbara County jail uniform, and was represented by attorney Jeremy Babich. 

He attempted to cover his face in court as Noozhawk was taking photos. Some of his family members were also present in court. 

However, his mother, Mitra Zade, has been ordered to be excluded from the courthouse, according to court records. 

The case received significant attention from local and national media outlets after Noozhawk captured a video of Eteghaei attempting to flee following reading of the verdict.

When deputies walked Eteghaei from the courtroom to a secure facility to await transportation to the jail, he ran from the back door of the Figueroa Courthouse’s basement floor toward State Street.

Noozhawk reporter Pricila Flores was downtown for an unrelated meeting and captured video of Eteghaei being apprehended by bailiffs about a block away from the courthouse.

One bailiff grabbed him, but struggled to get control until another bailiff arrived at the scene. Two bystanders also appeared to help the bailiffs hold Eteghaei on the ground. 

Bailiffs were laughing and joking about the incident in court Tuesday afternoon. 

Eteghaei, who was a freshman at UCSB in 2020-21, was arrested and criminally charged in August 2021 for alleged assaults on three women.

During the investigation, three more women came forward and reported they had been assaulted by Eteghaei, according to authorities.  

Each alleged victim was identified anonymously as Jane Doe plus initials. Many of them testified against him in court during the trial.

Eteghaei also testified in his own defense. 

Attorneys delivered closing arguments in the trial in December, just before the holiday break. 

Eteghaei is set to return to court on April 8 for his sentencing hearing. He faces 15 years to life in state prison, according to prosecutors.