photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured on Sept. 4, 2024.

A Lawrence man has been ordered to stand trial on charges of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy after an 18-year-old woman testified that the man assaulted her on a couch at his apartment after an evening out.

Douglas County Judge Sally Pokorny on Friday found probable cause to believe that Miquel L. Brown committed the crimes and set a trial date for May 12. Brown, represented by attorney Gary West, entered a plea of not guilty.

The woman testified that on Oct. 26, 2024, she went to a downtown music event with Brown, his girlfriend and two other people. After the event, around 1 in the morning, she and Brown and his girlfriend went to Brown’s residence, where she said they watched TV and ate pizza. At some point the girlfriend said she had a headache and went to bed in another room.

The woman said she too wasn’t feeling well and lay down to sleep on Brown’s couch. She told the court that Brown turned out the lights, sat on the couch and began massaging her legs, which escalated into sexual touching and intercourse.

“I was numb and out of my body,” the woman testified. “I felt like if I moved or said anything, something was going to happen to me.”

The woman noted that she is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 123 pounds. A civilian investigator who testified later said that Brown, by contrast, is 6 feet 2 and weighs 360 pounds.

The woman testified that Brown put his hand around her throat, and although it didn’t cut off her air, she said, “that’s the moment I thought I might not go home to see my family.”

The woman said she was scared but was unable to scream, and she thought she’d be OK if she stayed still “and just let it happen.”

After the act ended, the woman said she was shaking with fear and went to the bathroom, where she phoned her mom and whispered “come pick me up right now.”

When her mother arrived, the woman said she told her what had happened, and her mother took her to the hospital, where a rape kit was administered.

Asked by Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal if she had consented to any of the sexual contact, the woman said no. She noted that she had been in a longtime position of trust with Brown and couldn’t “fathom” why he had treated her that way.

On cross-examination by West, the woman acknowledged that she did not vocalize a “no” to Brown’s touching and said that he did not try to prevent her from leaving.

The only other witness Friday was Lawrence Police Civilian Investigator Jackie Clark, who testified that she spoke with Brown after the incident and that he denied “seven to eight times” having had any sexual contact with the woman, but he eventually admitted that sexual contact had occurred.

Clark said Brown told her that he “got caught up in the moment” and did not ask the woman if she wanted sexual contact, but he denied that intercourse had occurred.