A former UC Santa Barbara student will seek a new trial after a Santa Barbara jury found him guilty of rape in January.
Arian Eteghaei, 23, was set to be sentenced to state prison on Tuesday, but the matter was pushed back to allow his attorney to file a motion for a new trial.
His new attorney, Michael Artan, told judge Von Deroian that he would need until at least May 28 to file the motion.
In January, Eteghaei was convicted of sexual penetration with a foreign object and domestic-violence battery against an ex-girlfriend, identified in court as Jane Doe H.O.C.; and forcible rape against a woman identified as Jane Doe M.E.
He also now faces a felony charge of escape by force or violence after he fled from the Figueroa Courthouse following his conviction.
After the guilty verdict was read, court bailiffs, who are overseen by the Sheriff’s Office, handcuffed Eteghaei in the courtroom and took him into custody.
He reportedly escaped from bailiffs and ran out the back door of the Figueroa Courthouse’s basement floor toward State Street.
Noozhawk captured video of Eteghaei running down the street and being apprehended by bailiffs about a block from the courthouse.
Eteghaei pleaded not guilty and was set for a preliminary hearing on the escape charge on Tuesday, but the hearing was pushed to July 15, along with the sentencing hearing.
At that time, Deroian will decide whether Eteghaei’s mother, Mitra Zade, should continue to be excluded from the courthouse.
She has not been allowed in the courthouse since January.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Lauren Franco explained that Zade was banned from the courthouse after she yelled at prosecutors and investigators from across the street, and accused the court of corruption following the guilty verdict.
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 will be back in court on July 15 at 8:30 a.m.
He remained in custody without bail Tuesday at the Santa Barbara County Jail.
