LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — As the Crown's case wound down Friday in the trial of Dar Heatherington, the lawyer for the alderwoman accused of fabricating tales of being stalked wouldn't say if her client will testify.
“I'm not about to tell anybody, least of all you guys, what the defence is going to do,” Tracy Hembroff told reporters outside provincial court.
When the trial - being heard by Judge Peter Caffaro without a jury - resumes Feb. 18, Crown prosecutor Photini Popadatou has said she plans to call only two more witnesses, including Lethbridge Mayor Bob Tarleck.
Heatherington, 40, is on trial on a charge of public mischief for allegedly making up stories over a six-month period that ended in early May last year when she disappeared while on council business in Great Falls, Mont.
Her disappearance sparked a frantic search and international media coverage. She was spotted outside a Las Vegas hotel three days later claiming she had been abducted and sexually assaulted.
She later recanted the abduction story and was charged with lying to police but struck a plea deal to avoid a criminal record. She was then charged in Lethbridge with public mischief - a charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and will see her disbarred from council if convicted.
The trial has been a mix of lurid letters, hidden cameras, undercover cops and racy sex photos that has played out before a packed courtroom and has seen a local radio station give away bumper stickers reading: Been Dar-Done Dar and I took Dar to Vegas.
The case began in October 2002 when Heatherington went to police about receiving harassing phone calls. Next came sexually obscene letters sent to her home.
Police have testified their investigation took many turns that led them to believe Heatherington herself was the culprit.
- To protect her husband, Dave Heatherington, from being implicated, Dar Heatherington admitted to police she held back some of the stalker letters and destroyed lingerie sent to her by the mystery man along with a computer disk that showed pictures of a woman performing sex acts. The woman had Dar Heatherington's face pasted on her.
- Copies of stalker letters, including one with her trademark misspellings, were found on Heatherington's computer and electronic organizer.
- Dave Heatherington aided police in the investigation. He thought his wife was having an affair because she had begun buying sexy underwear and their sex life had improved.
- Dar Heatherington was spotted at the local library copying out notes on stalker books. A passage from one book appeared word for word in a stalker letter.
Court has heard:
Heatherington has not spoken outside court but as the Crown's case wound down she laughed and joked on breaks with Hembroff.
“She's doing well, very well,” said Hembroff. But when he was asked if they were looking forward to a week break in the case, replied, “God, that's an understatement.”
Will she, or won't she? Only Dar Heatherington and her lawyer know for certain, and they're not talking.
With the Crown's case set to wrap up when Heatherington's trial resumes Feb. 18, the big question is will the embattled Lethbridge alderman testify?
Defence lawyer Tracy Hembroff said Friday she has a trial strategy and isn't about to waiver from it.
But Hembroff would not reveal whether her attempts to win her client an acquittal will include having Heatherington explain her side of the story.
"I'm pretty steady on my course and I'm not about to tell anybody - least of all you guys - what exactly the defence is going to do," she told reporters.
Hembroff's strategy has been to question how the police investigated her client's stalking complaint, before making Heatherington a suspect rather than a victim.
| 
