Darlene "Dar" Heatherington (born 1963) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
former politician who was forced to resign her city council seat in
Lethbridge,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
in 2004 after being convicted of public
mischief
Mischief or malicious mischief is the name for a criminal offenses that is defined differently in different legal jurisdictions. While the wrongful acts will often involve what is popularly described as vandalism, there can be a legal different ...
.
Reports
On May 3, 2003, Heatherington first made Canadian and international headlines when she disappeared from a conference in
Great Falls, Montana. Three days later, she was found in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
, alleging that she had been abducted and raped. Police found her report to be inconsistent and lacking evidence, and she eventually recanted. She was charged with filing a false report to police, but pleaded not guilty. She continues to allege that the incident happened as reported, and that the police coerced her into recanting her original statement.
Previously, Heatherington had filed reports with Lethbridge police that she was being stalked. She was receiving sexually explicit letters from her stalker, but her reports often did not match police surveillance evidence. On June 10, 2003, she was charged with public mischief after police concluded that the stalker did not exist, and that Heatherington was likely writing the letters herself. On September 8, she pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
Charges and sentencing
On June 29, 2004, Heatherington was found guilty of public mischief. Although required by law to resign her council seat following her conviction, Heatherington initially refused to do so. As a result, Lethbridge city council initiated the process of having her removed through the
Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. On August 9, 2004, Heatherington announced her resignation effective September 10, indicating that she would be using her time to prove her innocence. Two days later, Lethbridge City Council was able to force Heatherington to resign immediately.
On September 10, Heatherington received a 20-month conditional sentence, consisting of eight months of
house arrest followed by 10 months of
curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
, and 100 hours of community service and counselling.
Post-trial
On February 3, 2005, Heatherington was found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest sentence, although this conviction did not result in any jail time.
On July 27, Heatherington and her husband filed separately for bankruptcy, both citing Heatherington's ongoing legal battle.
On August 16, Heatherington dropped her appeal of the mischief charge. Her lawyer stated that Heatherington could no longer afford to proceed, despite earlier claims that the bankruptcy would not affect her appeal.
On November 15, 2005, Heatherington's sentence was reduced to one year from twenty months, by order of the
Alberta Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal of Alberta (frequently referred to as Alberta Court of Appeal or ABCA) is a Canadian appellate court.
Jurisdiction and hierarchy within Canadian courts
The court is the highest in Alberta, Canada. It hears appeals from the ...
.
References
External links
CBC News Indepth: Dar Heatherington Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heatherington, Dar
1963 births
21st-century Canadian criminals
Lethbridge city councillors
Living people
Canadian female criminals
Canadian politicians convicted of crimes
Women municipal councillors in Canada
Women in Alberta politics