Thursday, 4:30 PM
Defense attorney says client was in dispute with prostitute and didn’t kidnap woman
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
The attorney for a Dorchester man accused of snatching a woman off a Boston street today said his client was in a dispute with a prostitute and did not kidnap the woman.
Speaking in Roxbury Municipal Court where his client, Mark A. Leaston, was arraigned, Richard Doyle said that the woman was "pounding the pavement" when the incident occurred on Blue Hill Avenue this morning.
Instead of kidnapping the woman, Doyle said Leaston, 42, wanted her to get out of his truck and refused until he threw out her shoes.
In comments that drew a warning Judge Edward Redd, Doyle added, "This case has nothing to do with kidnapping or sexual assault ... She was not out there collecting for the Red Cross."
Darcy Jordan, an assistant Suffolk district attorney, said in court that Leaston was driving a rental truck with Arizona license plates at 6:30 a.m. today when he pulled the woman into his truck. They drove to a nearby secluded area where she said Leaston indecently assaulted her.
Jordan said security guards heard a police description of the rental truck, spotted it on the street, and helped Boston police track the vehicle to Kingsdale Street in Dorchester, where Leaston was arrested.
Redd set bail at $500 cash and ordered Leaston to return to court Aug. 16.
