The trial for iV Menus owner Patrick Galoustian has been postponed to Dec. 4 due to scheduling issues with the Santa Barbara Superior Court.
Galoustian’s 15-day trial was previously set to begin on July 31, but it was delayed at a court appearance on June 19, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Karapetian said in an email.
Galoustian was arrested in December 2017. Courtesy of SBSO
December will mark two years since Galoustian was first arrested in I.V. on three felony charges of rape.
He currently faces 33 felony charges, including kidnap to commit robbery or rape, rape of a drugged and intoxicated victim, penetration with foreign object and two counts of oral copulation by use of force or injury.
The 33 charges were filed on behalf of two victims.
Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge James Herman has criticized the amount of time it has taken to resolve the case during several court appearances.
Galoustian’s trial was initially set for January, but his lawyers filed to change the appearance to a readiness and settlement conference in December. They then pushed back the readiness and settlement conference at the next two appearances in February and March.
In March, Herman told the lawyers the case either had to be settled that day or a trial date had to be set.
Galoustian’s next court appearance will be on August 14, when the prosecution and defense will confirm details of the trial with the judge, Karapetian said.
