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Former Olympic skater arrested Harding pleads innocent to assaulting boyfriend
Posted: Friday February 25, 2000 02:12 AM
CAMAS, Wash. (AP) -- Former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded innocent to domestic assault Thursday for allegedly throwing a hubcap at her boyfriend and repeatedly punching him in the face. Harding looked sullen as she appeared before District Court Judge Randal Fritzler on a charge of fourth-degree domestic violence assault. Her boyfriend, Darren Silver, sat in the back of the courtroom but did not address the court. Harding's attorney, Steve Thayer, entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf. Thayer also told Fritzler that Silver had moved out of the house he shared with the skater. Fritzler told Harding he would release her, but ordered her to avoid all contact with Silver. Fritzler set other conditions, including no possession or use of alcohol or of weapons, and he ordered her to check in with court officials. Harding replied to Fritzler: "I understand." Sitting with Silver was his attorney, John Meader. At one point Meader stood up and asked Fritzler for a copy of the conditions of Harding's release. Fritzler said he would provide a copy. Harding, known for her involvement in an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan in 1994, was ordered to return to court March 8 for a pretrial hearing. Outside the courthouse, Harding told reporters "I'm very saddened by this whole ordeal with Darren and myself." Thayer reiterated Harding's contention that Silver had struck her first and she was only defending herself. "Unfortunately there was a struggle and my client had to defend herself," he told to reporters before leaving with Harding in a white sport utility vehicle. Harding was booked Tuesday night after a fight that left Silver's face bruised and bloodied, Camas police said. Harding, 29, and Silver, 28, had lived together for about three years, police said. Harding and Silver began fighting Tuesday night in a barn they use as a garage behind their house, police said. Two men inside the barn told officers Harding threw a hubcap at Silver, hitting him in the face, then began pummeling him with punches. Police said Harding told officers she hit him to protect herself, a statement witness accounts did not back up. In a recording of the 911 call released Wednesday by police, a female voice says: "I punched him in the face because he came after me, he put me to the ground." In the background, a male voice can be heard yelling: "I did not! You are a liar! You are a liar! You are a felon and I have nothing to hide!" Harding, who teaches figure skating at a Portland, Ore., mall, was arrested and ordered to stay away from Silver. Harding gained national attention in 1994 when she pleaded guilty to covering up for her former husband and his friends, who hatched a plot to injure Harding's chief rival, Nancy Kerrigan, as Kerrigan practiced for the national figure skating championship. Harding won the championship and later competed at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. Harding was banned from amateur skating for life later that year because of her role in the attack.
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