Dominik Simunovic is seen exiting the Lyon County Courthouse on Jan. 3, with his attorney, Frederick L. Meier, after pleading not guilty to alleged rape and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy.
After nearly seven months of court hearings, Dominik Simunovic’s trial commenced Monday, April 29 with jury selection, opening statements, and testimony from the survivor. The jury consists of eight women and six men from Lyon County.
Simunovic, 21 and a former Emporia State tennis player from Zagreb, Croatia, was arrested last October for an alleged rape and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy that took place in the alley behind Bourbon Cowboy.
In her opening statement, First Assistant Lyon County Attorney Amy Aranda established more of a timeline of the events of Oct. 14, 2023.
The survivor, who The Bulletin will continue to refer to as Jane to protect her identity, arrived at Bourbon Cowboy with her brother and friend at 12:37 a.m. A man at the bar bought Jane a drink, as did others, and Simunovic, who had left for the Bourbon Cowboy before she and the others did, bought her a double vodka redbull.
At some point in the night, Aranda said that Simunovic and Jane kissed in the bar, but Jane did not think much of it. She indicated that Simunovic proceeded to follow Jane around throughout the night and asked a friend if he should “try something with her.”
At 1:30 a.m., Jane was said to be stumbling, slurring her words, and vomiting in the bathroom. Later, Simunovic asked Jane to go outside and smoke, but received no answer. He left to go outside alone before reentering the bar at 1:37 a.m. where he pursued Jane on the dancefloor and asked her again to go outside and smoke.
According to Aranda, Jane followed Simunovic outside and he led her down the alley behind the trailer. She said that Simunovic asked Jane to have sex “in a roundabout way.” When she said no and that she had a boyfriend, that is when the alleged rape is to have ensued.
“The state expects that the defense will say this was consensual … this is a case in which the defendant, Dominik Simunovic, attempted to rape and sodomize (Jane),” Aranda said.
Simunovic’s attorney, Frederick L. Meier, then proceeded with his opening statements.
Meier said that while Jane’s brother and Simunovic were not close friends, they were “social friends” and that is how Simunovic came to be invited to Jane’s 21st birthday party thrown for her by her brother. He indicated that at the party and the bar, Jane “singled out” Simunovic during pictures and interactions and that “he never approached her” but rather “she would go to his group.”
According to Meier, Jane and Simunovic kissed multiple times throughout the night. After the first kiss, he said she was “giddy” and her other interactions with Simunovic made him “ambivalent about her wishes.”
Meier said that the two had consensual sex and that she took her own clothes off.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Meier said to the jury, “when you hear all of the evidence, you will find Dominik is an innocent man who has been wrongfully accused and will find him not guilty.”
Following the conclusion of Meier’s statements, Jane took the stand and was questioned by Aranda about the alleged rape and the events before and after it occurred. She will be cross-examined by the defense on Tuesday.