WOODLAND — A Yolo County judge has found sufficient evidence for a former UC Davis doctoral student to stand trial early next year on sexual assault charges.
Ephrem Rukundo, 35, has pleaded not guilty to felony counts of oral copulation and sexual penetration in connection with the April 26 incident in which he is accused of assaulting the woman as she slept on a couch at a Davis residence.
The 21-year-old alleged victim took the witness stand Thursday at Rukundo’s preliminary hearing, testifying that she had been visiting her sister in Davis that weekend and had gone to a birthday party at a mutual friend’s house.
Rukundo was dating a housemate of the friend at the time, said the woman, whose name is being withheld by The Enterprise because of the nature of the allegations.
The woman said she had consumed alcohol during the party but felt “pretty much sober” by the time she fell asleep on the couch shortly after midnight.
She recalled waking up at about 4 a.m. to discover Rukundo orally copulating her, and she identified him in court as the person who committed the alleged act. She said she confronted him and demanded his name, but he left the house without responding.
The woman reported the incident to Davis police, who arrested Rukundo on a warrant about two weeks later.
Rukundo’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Dean Johansson, asked the woman whether she had consumed any drugs, including hallucinogenics, that night. The woman said she had taken a single hit of marijuana after arriving at the party.
Finding sufficient evidence to support the charges, visiting Judge Stephen Mock set the case for trial starting Feb. 1, 2016. Deputy District Attorney Deanna Hays said in court she plans to add an additional felony sexual battery count to the case.
Rukundo remains free on bail but has since been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Davis, prompting Mock to order him to refrain from drinking alcohol while his cases are pending, and to drive only if he is legally licensed.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene