Last Updated Tue, 20 May 2003 18:37:17
GREAT FALLS, MONT. - An Alberta municipal politician who
disappeared this month in Great Falls, Mont., will have a charge of lying to
police dropped in exchange for her seeking counselling.
Dar Heatherington, a Lethbridge alderman, was also ordered to pay $100 US in
court costs.
She was accompanied in court by her husband Dave and her American lawyer. She
appeared in court for less than 10 minutes. The only words she spoke were
"not guilty."
The deal offered by the Great Falls county attorney required her to plead not
guilty, get counselling and pay court costs. If she isn't in trouble during the
next year, the charge will be dropped.
Heatherington disappeared from Great Falls May 3, prompting a three-day
search for the 39-year-old mother of three.
She turned up in Las Vegas on May 6, claiming she had been abducted and
possibly drugged and sexually assaulted. After an interview with Great Falls
police, she was charged with giving a false statement.
The county attorney said Heatherington initially maintained she'd been
kidnapped, then changed her story and said she had travelled to Las Vegas with a
man from Alberta she had met along the city's bike paths.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Dar Heatherington listens to the
judge's instructions in Great Falls, Montana
(CP PHOTO)