PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The lawyer for a man accused of attempted murder in a vicious sex assault on a Saskatchewan woman says he won’t be able to avoid court again. Leslie Ivan Black, 29, was charged last summer in an attack against 47-year-old Marlene Bird.
Bird, who was discovered in a Prince Albert parking lot, was cut and burned so badly both legs had to be amputated.
READ MORE: Prince Albert woman’s legs amputated after being beaten, burned
Black’s legal-aid lawyer has appeared on his behalf in court for several months, but said Monday it was the last time she would do so. Tara Lennox-Zepp said someone else is taking over Black’s case and he will have to show up for his next appearance a month from now.
She declined to comment on why Black wants a new lawyer.
The presiding judge noted it’s been more than six months since the charges were laid.
The names of sexual assault victims aren’t usually released, but the publication ban was lifted in this case after arguments from Bird’s family. Her aunt, Lorna Thiessen, said Bird didn’t want to be “just another statistic.”
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