As a Boston criminal defense attorney, I want to again say upfront that all persons are innocent until proven guilty.
Still, it is always surprising when a lawmaker is charged with assault, because the court of public opinion always seems to assume that he is guilty.
This past week Carlos Henriquez, a first-term state representative from Dorchester, stands accused of Boston assault and battery involving allegedly repeatedly punching and choking a 23-year-old college student. She says that she escaped early Sunday morning only by jumping out of a moving car on the Fenway.
Representative Henriquez was arrested and headed to Roxbury Municipal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges of Boston domestic assault and Boston kidnapping. He was released on $1,000 cash bail.
The woman who made the allegations, Katherine Gonzalves, told authorities that she and Henriquez were involved in an intimate relationship. Apparently, Henriquez told her that he wanted to discuss their relationship, and he picked her up at her mother’s home in Arlington. Their conversation took a turn for the worse, while allegedly Henriquez drove into various Boston neighborhoods, while allegedly refusing to let Ms. Gonzalves out of the car. She stated that he allegedly punched her with a fist repeatedly, and strangled her. She also said that whenever she tried to jump out of the car, Henriquez grabbed her wrists to prevent her from doing so.