By Ron VandenBoom
Roberta Demarest, former Democratic candidate for House District 91, pleaded innocent on Friday, June 16, before Great Falls Municipal Court Judge Nancy Luth to charges of stalking two Great Falls residents.
Trial date has been set for Sept. 29, 2000.
Demarest, who was defeated in the June 4 primary election by fellow Democrat John Musgrove was arrested by Havre police officers on Monday, June 12, after they received two warrants for her arrest from Great Falls.
Demarest is alleged to have failed to appear in Great Falls Municipal Court on Jan. 4, 2000, to answer to two stalking tickets issued in December 1999.
The tickets allege Demarest "caused substantial emotional distress by continued harassment" to Richard Hopkins and Holly Strong, both of Great Falls.
Demarest, in a telephone interview the day after her arrest, said she was not sure what was going on and claimed she had not received any notice regarding the Great Falls matter.
She added that she had never been issued any papers concerning court dates and suspected that there had been some kind of an error.
"And I haven't any idea what it's all about," she said. "I think basically it was an error."
