Woman enters plea in assault case

A Harlem woman who assaulted a man while in Havre in January agreed to a plea deal Friday and is scheduled to be sentenced in District Court in Havre Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.

Amber (Black Lance) Lawrence, born in 1985, pleaded no contest to a felony count of assault with a weapon.

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.

Lawrence was initially charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, partner or family member assault and assault, reasonable apprehension.

Court documents say police received a call Jan. 17 after 11 p.m. from a man at a 13th Avenue residence who said Lawrence attacked him. The man told the dispatcher he was bleeding a lot.

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,” the charging document said.

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. Officers saw a bite mark on the man’s left arm. He said Lawrence had hit him with the bottle a second time after he woke up.

The registered nurse who was treating Lawrence 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 of family member assault Dec. 23, 2003.