Woman gets probation for injuring sister and sister's boyfriend

A Harlem woman received three years probation for drunkenly attacking her sister and hitting her sister's boyfriend with a bottle. injuring both.

Amber (Black Lance) Lawrence, born in 1985, received a three-year deferred imposition of sentence Monday morning in District Court in Havre. The sentence is part of a no contest plea deal in which Lawrence pleaded nolo contendere to a felony count of assault with a weapon. Three other charges were dismissed in the plea agreement: misdemeanor partner or family member assault, a misdemeanor assault, and a second felony count of assault with a weapon.

If Lawrence abides by the conditions of her sentence she can have the offense struck from her record.

In a no contest plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but agrees the prosecution has enough evidence to convince a jury to find them guilty. Courts treat a no contest plea the same as a guilty plea as far as sentencing.

Police received a call Jan. 17 after 11 p.m. from a man at a 13th Avenue Havre residence who said Lawrence broke a bottle over his head, saying he was bleeding a lot.

The man said in the call Lawrence had stabbed him but nothing in subsequent documents or testimony brought that up.

Officers arrived on the scene and noticed blood on the arms, face and shirt of a woman, Lawrence's sister, who was waiting outside the residence. The sister tried to clean the blood off of herself with snow while the officer was speaking to her.

The sister said Lawrence came over, got very drunk, attacked her and her boyfriend and "kept hitting her."

Lawrence was transported to Northern Montana Hospital to receive treatment for a possible drug overdose.

When speaking to the man who made the call, officers noticed blood all over his face and blood coming from two cuts on his head.

The man told officers he was sleeping when Lawrence scratched him and hit him in the head with a bottle. He said Lawrence had hit him with the bottle a second time after he woke up.

The registered nurse who was treating Lawrence at the hospital said Lawrence threatened her, telling her she was going to die. The nurse said she felt scared and thought that if Lawrence wasn't strapped to the bed she would have hurt her.

When talking to Lawrence, officers said, they didn't see any injuries on her. Lawrence told officers she didn't remember what had happened.

Lawrence had been convicted of partner or family member assault Dec. 23, 2003.