Assault with intent to Rape
Judge rules partial mistrial in Wilmington assault case
October 28, 2000
By LISA REDMOND
Sun Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- A Superior Court judge was forced to declare a partial mistrial in the case against a Wilmington man accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl in the parking lot of Wilmington Plaza last year, after the jury was "hung" on two sexual assault charges..
...Defense attorney Kevin Mahoney asserted in his opening statement that his client, whom he once described as borderline mentally retarded, only tried to kiss the girl and never attacked her.
When the girl backed away from the kiss, Dinunzio was embarrassed and left, Mahoney said.
Mahoney blamed the police, who he said asked the girl leading questions during their interview, essentially embellishing the story.
As a result, the incident grew from a simple kiss to "an attack by a sexual predator," he said.
Jury gets Wilmington attempted rape case
October 27, 2000
By LISA REDMOND
The Lowell Sun Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- A Middlesex Superior Court jury is deliberating the fate of a Wilmington man accused of accosting and attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl in the Wilmington Plaza parking lot last year.
...Defense attorney Kevin Mahoney argued in his opening statement to the jury that his client, who he once described as borderline mentally retarded, only tried to kiss the girl.
Dinunzio is awkward and unfamiliar with how to talk to girls, so "to compensate he is obnoxious," Mahoney told the jury.
When the girl backs away from the kiss, Dinunzio is embarrassed and leaves, Mahoney said.
Mahoney claimed the police interviews asked the girl leading questions, embellishing the story "by leaps and bounds." As a result, the incident went from a simple kiss from a bag boy at Market Basket to "an attack by a sexual predator," he said.
Defense says rape try was 'awkward kiss' by a bagboy
October 25, 2000
By LISA REDMOND
The Lowell Sun Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- Sitting hunched over on the witness , a 12-year-old Wilmington girl held back tears as she described how she tried to fight off Michael Dinunzio as he kissed, fondled and attempted to rape her as she sat in her family's truck in a supermarket parking lot last year.
"It felt awful. . . I told him to stop and he was just laughing," the girl testified yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court.
Dinunzio, 19, of 15 Marjorie Road, Wilmington, has pleaded innocent to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child (four counts), assault on a child with intent to rape, assault and battery in connection with the May 31, 1999 incident at the Wilmington Plaza.
Defense attorney Kevin Mahoney said in his opening statement that his client is the victim of allegations that have gotten out of hand.
Mahoney told the jury that his client, who he once described as borderline mentally retarded, only tried to kiss the girl...
Trial set to start in Wilmington rape attempt
October 24, 2000
By LISA REDMOND
The Lowell Sun Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- A 19-year-old Wilmington man is expected to go on trial in Middlesex Superior Court today accused of attempting to rape an 11-year-old girl in a supermarket parking lot while her mother shopped inside.
Michael Dinunzio, of 15 Marjorie Road, also faces charges of molesting an 11-year-old mentally handicapped girl and exposing himself to two other women in two separate cases. Those trials will be held at a later date.
Dinunzio has pleaded innocent to a total of nine charges in the three separate cases.
...When asked by the judge, Dinunzio, who Mahoney described as borderline mentally retarded, said he wanted Mahoney to represent him.
