Tumultuous and scarring. 

That’s how Jane Doe H.O.C. described her relationship with Arian Eteghaei, her former boyfriend who she has accused of rape and assault.

She’s not the only one. 

Monday marked the start of Eteghaei’s criminal trial where he is facing multiple charges including forcible rape, attempted rape, forcible sexual penetration by foreign object, forcible oral copulation, false imprisonment by violence, and battery.

The allegations are connected to separate assaults on six different women, including his ex-girlfriend identified in court as Doe H.O.C.

Eteghaei, 23, who was a freshman at UC Santa Barbara 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 their own assaults, according to authorities.  

In opening arguments of the Santa Barbara Superior Court trial Monday, Lauren Franco, the attorney for the prosecution, walked the jury through what happened to each of the women.

The jury saw photos and videos of bruises on two of the women’s wrists and necks that were taken after their assaults.  

Franco told the jury that Eteghaei’s relationships differed with each woman. One was a friend of Doe H.O.C., some he knew through mutual friends, others he met on the nights of the alleged assaults, she said.

In the case of Doe H.O.C., she had dated Eteghaei off and on from October 2020 to June 2021. On the night of June 8, 2021, the two attended a prom-themed party in Isla Vista together at Eteghaei’s apartment. 

Franco told the jury that Doe H.O.C. found out Eteghaei was cheating on her at the party and the two got into an argument. 

When Doe H.O.C. tried to leave, Eteghaei allegedly pulled her wrist and hair, and threw her onto his bed. 

Franco described Doe H.O.C. telling Eteghaei that she didn’t want to have sex with him, using her hands to block him from her genitalia, and Eteghaei moving her hands away.

Franco said Doe H.O.C. “emotionally shut down” as Eteghaei raped her, used sex toys on her, took a video, and forced her to perform oral sex. 

He would then try to rape her again hours later when he went with her to the bathroom, Franco said. Hours passed before Doe H.O.C. was able to convince Eteghaei to let her leave his apartment.

Doe H.O.C. reported the assault to the UCSB Police Department (UCPD) on June 17, 2021. UCPD then reported the assault to UCSB’s Title IX office, according to Franco.

The office then reached out to Jane Doe N.S and Jane Doe K.S., who had separately reported that Eteghaei assaulted them earlier that year.

The Title IX office doesn’t report assaults to law enforcement unless the victims wish to do so, but UCPD is mandated to report assaults to Title IX, Franco said.

Doe N.S. would later report an assault to law enforcement on July 14, 2021 and Doe K.S. reported an assault to law enforcement on July 21, 2021.

Franco told the jury that they will learn from trial testimony that Eteghaei is not someone who takes no for an answer. 

Eteghaei appeared in court in a gray suit surrounded by his legal team. 

His defense attorney, Leonard Levine, said in opening arguments that in each of Eteghaei’s interactions with the women, he was invited to be there, whether it was at a party or hanging out in an apartment. 

Levine argued that while Eteghaei acted like an “asshole,” his interactions with the six women were all consensual, but they got upset when they learned he was sleeping with multiple people.

“He was not faithful, he was not monogamous, he was someone you would call an asshole, someone you would warn your daughter about, but he is not charged for cheating,” Levine said. 

Levine argued that “all hell broke loose” after Doe H.O.C learned Eteghaei was cheating on her and that the accusations were to “get revenge.” 

“Every time these people were in touch with each other it was all consensual, they wanted to be there, he was invited to parties, every time he was there he was invited to be there and they knew he would be there ahead of time,” Levine said.

Additionally, Levine argued that Eteghaei denied rape allegations in texts, and never admitted to the allegations in his apologies to Doe H.O.C. and he was only apologizing for cheating. 

The jury, made up of 10 men and two women, will get to hear from Eteghaei directly when he takes the stand to testify later in the trial. 

Doe H.O.C. will continue her testimony on Friday in Santa Barbara Superior Court.