A pretrial hearing is coming later this month for a former Emporia State tennis player accused of rape.
Dominik Simunovic was formally charged last fall with single counts of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy. Both counts have alternates alleging the victim was incapable of giving consent due to the presence of alcohol, drugs or other substances.
At a preliminary hearing this week, Judge Merlin Wheeler set pretrial and arraignment at 2 pm Jan. 26 before Judge Jeff Larson. That hearing is notable because it typically leads to possible trial dates on the docket.
Wheeler also also denied a defense request to modify Simunovic’s bond to remove the GPS monitoring requirement.
A redacted affidavit alleges Simunovic raped a person in downtown Emporia in mid-October. Simunovic says activity was consensual.
Simunovic, a native of Zagreb, Croatia, was on the ESU tennis team for the spring 2023 season. He is no longer enrolled at Emporia State.
