Yellowknife (Oct 27/04) - North Slave MLA Henry Zoe made an appearance in territorial court Tuesday morning to face a charge of resisting arrest.

Zoe, accompanied by his lawyer, stood quietly at the defence table while Chief Judge Michel Bourassa read the charge aloud. Bourassa asked Zoe if he understood the charge and the MLA answered: "Uh huh."

Zoe was one of roughly two dozen people paraded before Bourassa during a busy morning in the lower court.

During the brief appearance, Zoe's attorney, Robert Gorin, said his caseload was extremely heavy and asked Bourassa to adjourn the case until Nov. 16 to give Zoe a chance to find another lawyer.

Bourassa agreed and ordered that Zoe be ready to enter his plea at the next hearing.

Crown attorney John Burke told the court his office would be proceeding summarily against Zoe. The decision means, if convicted, Zoe faces a maximum of six months in jail.

Zoe was arrested by police Aug. 28 after they were called to his Yellowknife home to investigate a complaint of a disturbance.

Zoe spent the night in police cells and on Sept. 10 was formally charged with resisting a peace officer.

The charge casts a shadow over Zoe's political future. In the event he is found guilty, fellow MLAs would vote on whether or not the conviction merits expulsion from the house.

Outside the courtroom, Zoe declined to discuss the case. "I have no comment at this time," he said.

The charge is the latest in a series of legal difficulties for the North Slave MLA. In 2001, Zoe was convicted of impaired driving. He was fined $1,000 and his license was suspended for a year.

Zoe has also been twice been convicted of assault. Following the most recent conviction in 1994, Zoe was forced to step down as MLA for the North Slave.

Earlier this year, Zoe was removed from his position as Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs following an incident in which he reportedly made derogatory remarks about Newfoundlanders.