Saugus attorney facing numerous assault, firearms charges deemed too dangerous

SALEM – A Superior Court judge ruled that a Saugus attorney charged with threatening his 43-year-old girlfriend with a handgun in Saugus and again in his apartment in Haverhill is too dangerous to be released pending trial.Leonard N. Mancuso, 56, of 602 Main St., Haverhill, was ordered by Judge Timothy Q. Feeley to be held without bail at the Middleton Jail.Feeley ruled that Assistant District Attorney Ashlee Dole met the burden of dangerousness after reviewing various police reports and hearing arguments from both sides.Mancuso appeared for his arraignment Tuesday morning in Salem Superior Court, pleading innocent to six indictments on charges of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a license and intimidation of a witness.Mancuso allegedly threatened and acted abusively toward his 43-year-old girlfriend, Sally Ouellette, on Sept. 30 in Haverhill at his apartment.He also denied another charge of assault with a dangerous weapon from an incident in Saugus on June 19 when he allegedly threatened Ouellette with a gun at a Dunkin Donuts parking lot.Dole asked Feeley to support her dangerousness petition, noting that Mancuso had put a firearm to the victim’s head and had fired a “warning shot.”Police responded to Mancuso’s first-floor apartment on Main Street in Haverhill after a June 30 2 a.m. 911 call. Police said they saw Ouellette trying to dive out a window, with Mancuso grabbing her while holding a gun.Police said they seized a .380 semi-automatic revolver from Mancuso, which had three rounds of ammunition in the magazine.Ouellette told police that Mancuso ordered her to leave, but when she started he threw a chair at her, shoved her against the wall and removed a battery from her cell phone.She also told police at that time there had been a prior incident in Saugus in June in which he had threatened her with a gun.Mancuso did not have a license to carry a firearm.Mancuso’s defense lawyer, Michael Cioffi of East Boston, tried unsuccessfully to convince Feeley that there are terms of release to ensure the victim’s safety, proposing that his client be released with an ankle bracelet.He said Mancuso lived in Saugus and Georgetown, was a Boston University graduate, passed the bar in 1983 and has been practicing law for 28 years.He has two children – an 18-year-old daughter who attends Saugus High School and a 22-year-old son.He described his client as a “client’s lawyer” and that Ouellette was a former client whom “he tried to help her.”Cioffi pointed out to Feeley that his client gave a full video statement to police, has had a “cooling off” period and understands his own anger.Feeley explained in making a decision he relied on the police reports and the grand jury minutes. He pointed out that Mancuso had a firearm he should not have had.Feeley said the testimony indicated “jealousy” loud and clear in Ouellette’s testimony involving the domestic violence, while noting in Mancuso’s own statement he blamed the victim for his own actions.He is scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 12 for a pretrial conference.Mancuso has been temporarily suspended from practicing law.In 2008 the Board of Bar Overseers imposed a public reprimand against him because he failed to provide an incarcerated client with a reliable telephone number.