MLA pleads guilty to assault
Michael Nadli opts for alternative justice program;
will be sentenced after completion
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, June 15, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli has pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and has agreed to enter an alternative justice program, likely in August.
Nadli nodded his head when Judge Christine Gagnon asked him to confirm the guilty plea in territorial court in Yellowknife on June 11.
Nadli, 50, turned himself into RCMP on April 5 after police had gone to a residence in Fort Providence where a victim had reported an assault. That person was taken to the health centre in Fort Providence and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Nadli was arrested later that day and held in custody until he was released on $1,500 bail on April 8.
The conditions of that bail release included that he have no contact with the victim except through legal counsel and that he only live at his residence in Yellowknife.
Nadli was only allowed to travel to his hometown of Fort Providence if he notified his bail supervisor ahead of time. Those bail conditions have now been loosened slightly. Nadli is now allowed to live at his Fort Providence residence as well as his Yellowknife home. He also no longer has to check in regularly with his bail supervisor.
Nadli was sentenced to six months probation after he was convicted of assault in 2004.
He remains the MLA for the Deh Cho, a position Nadli has held since winning the seat in the 2011 territorial election. He told News/North earlier this spring that he doesn't know yet if he'll run in this fall's election. In April, Nadli stepped down as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Government Operations but he remained on the committee.
Tim Mercer, the clerk of the legislative assembly, said Nadli's status as an MLA has not changed despite the guilty plea.
"His status as a member would continue even after a conviction," Mercer said. "It would only change if he was sentenced to custody."
It is expected that Nadli will be sentenced once he completes the alternative justice program. He is scheduled to be back in court on July 23. There is a publication ban on the victim's identity.
MLAs convicted of criminal offences in recent memory include one-time cabinet minister Henry Zoe. He resigned his seat in May of 2005 as North Slave MLA after he was convicted of resisting arrest.
