I changed the main photo of my Go Fund Me campaign and wrote an update to let readers know that I was wrongfully arrested two more times!
Welcome to Maine Incarcerationland!
I changed the main photo of my Go Fund Me campaign and wrote an update to let readers know that I was wrongfully arrested two more times!
Welcome to Maine Incarcerationland!
On November 4, 2024 I was arraigned in Fort Kent District Court. The case was presided over by Judge Carrie Linthicum. She would not drop my bail condition, which forbid me to be at my own property even after our tenant moved out. I just googled her name and discovered that Judge Carrie Linthicum's pay in 2023 ($148,231.60) was three times her co-workers in Maine, and twice that of the national average. Judge Nelson, who sentenced Shane and is presiding over the Disorderly Conduct charge against me, had the same payroll as Linthicum.
And I found the pay for the Maine State trooper Ted Martin who arrested me, although in 2023 he hadn't yet been promoted to corporal; he must have had an increase in pay after that happened around the time of my arrest July 20, 2024. Martin in 2023.
The link to the payroll records is simply openpayrolls.com
If you don't get results in the search bar in the middle of the page, try using the search on the sidebar to the left, which you can use filters in. I found District Attorney Todd Collins pay from there.
Todd R Collins worked as a District Attorney for the State of Maine and in 2023 had a reported pay of $135,021.60 according to public records. This is 94.6 percent higher than the average pay for state employees and 88.2 percent higher than the national average for government employees.
Sometimes I forget who I've written to regarding about the wrongful arrests. Unless something went wrong with the mail, my letters to Judge Stephen Nelson, District Attorney Todd Collins, and the Maine State Police were delivered; and yet I'm still being prosecuted based on absolutely no evidence of the alleged disorderly conduct. And as far as I know, no warning was given to Kevin. I could ask for a protection order. When he left, Kevin had help moving and they took some of our boxes, probably by accident, though they are clearly labeled U-Haul, and he should know they aren't his. Pete texted Kevin a few months ago when we discovered they were missing, and he hasn't replied.
As I'm trying to get more attention on the three wrongful arrests of me since last summer, and my son's post conviction review...I've decided to remove some of my past posts. Write to me at info@pjmcleaning.com if there's a specific one that you're looking for and I'll send you it.
A unanimous decision by the Maine Supreme Court is reversed, by the Maine Supreme Court in Pushard v. Finsh. The decision involves the proceedures used by financial institutions in foreclosures...sorry people there'll be no more free houses if the bank makes an error.
Under Finch, foreclosing lenders will no longer face the draconian consequence of a simple error in a default notice resulting in the forfeiture of its note and mortgage.
How does that happen? I mean a unanimous decision overturned. I read somewhere else, that one of the justices should have recused herself due to a conflict but didn't.
Here's a Bangor Daily News story about Victim Servicea in Maine and how only half of the funds have been approved that are needed to help them, and other victims of crime. And, from the story:
A recent survey of callers to the National Domestic Violence Hotline found that 39 percent of those who also called police actually felt less safe after calling them; 40 percent said they believed it made no difference.
If you ever thought that your vote didn't matter much, read this story at WGME.
Lucas Lanigan won re-election by one vote; and surprisingly it was right after he was charged with choking his wife! Prior to that, Patricia Kidder was ahead of him. The alleged abuse happened so near the election that it's very possible that voters didn't get a chance to swallow the news.
Another story at WGME says after posting a $3000 bail, Lanigan is not to have contact with his wife. In relationships, things can get complicated and frustrations can turn into violence if there isn't appropriate support or counseling. As it stands, even a phone call would be in violation of the order placed on Lanigan, even though his wife doesn't want him to be charged.
But is completely cutting off ties always the best option? Sometimes it's the frustration of that disconnect that leads to violence. Despite whether or not there is reunification, when two people can't seem to come to a resolution of their problems, there should be some sort of intervention, mediation in an effort to keep both parties safe...processes that supplement or in some cases replace protection orders.
The non-profit that organized the march in Sanford is Finding Our Voices. The founder is Patricia McLean, and she interviewed Randall Liberty of the Maine State Prison; his father was an abuser who was in and out of prison. To combat the problems of violence, there's a new state office, The Office of Injury and Violence Prevention, a part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Shane’s been incarcerated now for over two years, without evidence of self-defense being investigated and considered, and without other individuals being charged...or at least their involvement be considered as a mitigating factor.
After he accepted a plea bargain, Shane was sentenced by Justice Stephen Nelson on 11-08-22 in Aroostook County Superior Court; Nelson may well be the judge who presides over my case AROCD CR 2024 20209. I was wrongfully arrested last summer while on vacation, and I'm being prosecuted for Disorderly Conduct.
The chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court, the mayor and the chief of police of Lewiston, the District Attorney, and others spoke at public meetings held at city hall about violence and public safety. They admit that the system is failing, collapsing, imploding! I'd like to know what they think a total collapse will look like! The State of Maine is violating prisoners' right to counsel. Ineffective counsel is the same as no counsel.
And here's some information about plea bargaining and ineffective counsel.
Follow my blog to get updates about mine and my son’s cases.
I sent a three-page letter to the court today, four if you include a copy of the threatening text message sent to me from our former tenant/roommate.
In my letter I requested the judge lift the bail conditions keeping me from being at my property, dismiss the case, but if not dismissed I asked to appear by zoom. And I want the evidence against me...there is none, absolutely none! It was a wrongful arrest.
If the District Attorney doesn't dismiss the charges, the presiding judge should file a complaint with the Board of Bar of Overseers against him, for malicious prosecution. Most oversights committees dismiss complaints they receive from ordinary people like you and I.
Oh, and I asked for an investigation of the police officer; I threw that in even though I know the judge won't address it. I didn't want to write a separate letter, so I simply added Lieutenant Brian Harris of Troop F to the cc at the end of the letter to the Superior Court, and sent a copy to him, in Houlton.
Shane says he has never been shown the text mesage below, which I sent to his attorney, Verne Paradie, by email. Paradie hired Investigator Hank Dusenbery who I spoke with; and he confirmed that he never went to the Saint John Valley to find them, never interviewed these guys.
My son is caught up in a system where you're guilty until proven innocent...imprisoned while waiting for counsel to be appointed. A speedy trial can take weeks, months, even years before being scheduled.
Jail rules won't allow me to bring in any paperwork, and when I mailed the text message to Shane it was sent back to me because it's a screenshot...and they're not allowed.
I sent the screenshot and other evidence to Governor Mills, and asked for her help. She has a duty to ensure that the laws of Maine are faithfully executed. I got no reply.
He told me that there was nothing they could do. In order to change a court's decision you'd have to go back through the courts, apparently.
Qualified immunity—the affirmative defense available to government officials sued in damages for violations of federal law—is under renewed assault.
Last month in an article at the Hill, The Supreme crisis of Chief Justice John Roberts, Jonathan Turley mentioned that a recent poll found that less than half of Americans have a favorable view of the United States Supreme Court. That's largely due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But we the people have even lower approval ratings for Congress which is part of the Legislative branch, at only 18%, and the media is only trusted by 32% of people, Turley reported.
As for police, who are part of the executive branch, their approval rating is about the same as that of the justices, only about half. In U.S. Confidence in Institutions Mostly Flat, but Police Up, by Megan Brenan at Gallup:
Faith in the police fell in 2020 to 48% after George Floyd was murdered while in police custody. After increasing to 51% in 2021, confidence in the police dropped again in 2022 and dipped further last year, to a record low of 43%.
Don't expect a decision anytime soon about the intertidial land controversy which the Maine Supreme Court heard today. Intertidal is the word used to describe the land between the low and high tide marks. Here's a Maine Public story by Kaitlyn Budion, at Maine Public: Moody Beach dispute reaches Maine Supreme Court. The justices will probably take forever because they have to first determine if Peter Masucci et al. (and others) have standing because according to the story he's "asking the court to overturn a 1989 decision which says that private land ownership extends to the low tide mark."
Apparently, the signs that were put up are offending people. Here's a story by AnneMarie Hilton, at the Morning Star, with photos of the signs. From Maine's highest court hears arguments for public access to intertidal land case:
If the court clarified that intertidal land is not an easement, but rather subject to the public trust doctrine — which preserves certain natural resources for public use — Parker said they could expand the definition of “fishing, fowling and navigation” without overturning the 1989 ruling.
That's how this issue could be resolved, according to a Maine assistant attorney general, Lauren Parker. The decision in 1989 was by the Maine Supreme Court. I don't know if the court has ever overturned one of their own decisions...that is admitted it made a mistake.
At schools throughout Maine this week the Maine Supreme Court justices are hearing the cases so students can watch. I wanted to attend the event, but couldn't; the public wasn't invited! Upon arriving, I was asked my name by a woman with a list. I wasn't on it, so I couldn't sit and watch.
What? I didn't have any weapons on me. There seemed to be enough space on the bleachers, though I don't know how many students were going to be attending. Nobody seemed to know that. A man who must have been with the justices and the court said it was not their policy. "An email went out to parents and others," I was told at the main office where I went to ask what the situation was.
Do parents want their children to learn about a failing judicial system? We should get students to help develop a new justice system! The current one is too slow; and counsel, which is essential, is being denied people. One of the reasons our ancesters separated from Massachusetts over 100 years ago is that it was taking too long for people in places far north (now Maine) to have their cases heard because of the great distance from the court.
Here's a story at the AP, about an officer who was apparently intoxicated when he crashed into cars and shot a man in the head on June 6, 2024. From the Associated Press story by Karen Mathews, on October 2, 2024:
According to the lawsuit, Tran’s alcoholism and mental health problems were known to his police superiors and should have disqualified him from serving as an armed officer, but he was nonetheless carrying a department-issued 9mm pistol that he used to shoot Patel.
A judge on Tuesday granted Cynthia Young’s petition to become a special administrator of Robert Card’s estate so she can have legal authority to obtain the records for herself, others who lost loved ones, and attorneys preparing lawsuits. The move was not opposed by Card’s son, who is his sole heir.
The suspension stems from the Committee on Judicial Conduct finding that Blaisdell had committed three violations of the code governing judicial conduct, according to the court’s written decision. The first included failing to file federal and state income tax returns for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022; failing to pay court-ordered child support and attorney fees; and acting in contempt of the district court in a family matter in which he was a party. The second violation was failing to respond to the committee despite repeated requests to do so and finally acting with a lack of candor by asserting he’d never received the committee’s letters.
Peter Murray, a Portland-based attorney, has practiced law for 55 years. When he started as a trial lawyer, he took criminal cases even though it wasn’t his specialty. Other trial lawyers would do the same. But handling criminal cases has become “infinitely more complex in the last 50 years,” he said. Part of the reason is the numerous types of charges in a single case, Murray said. But the primary reason is cases rarely go to trial anymore. They end in plea bargains, meaning much of the criminal defense work is done outside a courtroom.
“Plaintiff was coerced and compelled to comply with defendant Fields’ advances” given his “position and power and because she could not afford to pay for the ankle monitor and did not want to return to Letcher County Jail,” the suit says.
From a January 10, 2024 story at The Mountain Eagle titled Ex-deputy sheriff is sentenced; one victim tells of 'nightmares'
Fields pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, two counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device and second degree perjury. The three charges related to the second woman were dismissed because she is now dead, but the civil case is continuing with her estate as plaintiff along with Adkins.
Fields will serve six months in jail and is required to register as a sex offender and complete outpatient sex offender treatment.
Ben Fields only had to serve 6 months of his sentence. Sabrina Adkins is the surviving defendant, and here's the PDF of that civil case filed 2.5 years ago, and the sheriff is named as a defendant.
I also found this story from an NBC News story in 2018, but I don't know if it's the same man: South Carolina Deputy Ben Fields Fired After Body Slamming Student: Sheriff
The school resource officer who was caught on camera violently flipping a South Carolina high school student at her desk has been fired, authorities announced Wednesday.
From the Portland Press story, Lawsuit, settlement for Taser use at York jail cost nearly $800,000:
When Dunnigan sued in October 2019, he alleged that while he was at the jail, Daigneault kneeled on his chest and pressed his Taser to him for almost one minute while Cram and another officer held him down, his head bouncing against the cement floor.
Brian Dunnigan's lawyers received even more than he did, $415,000! In March of 2023 some defendants were dismissed from the case. Here's the motion granting it, and explaining what happened to Dunnigan in 2018 after he was arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief at a bar in Ogunquit...charges that were later dropped.
If Dunnigan hadn't filed the lawsuit, the charges probably wouldn't have been dropped, and he would've been jailed and/or fined. I'm wondering how he was able to pay the lawyers. Very few cases are taken on contingency, except for those that are so shocking, and in which lawyers expect a huge award when they win.
Tankerley had been indicted by a grand jury last year on two counts of manslaughter, two counts of aggravated criminal operating under the influence, and single counts of criminal speed and driving to endanger.
I have to wonder if this man has ties to someone in a position of power. I can't determine if Tankerley was appointed an attorney. It was Deputy District Attorney Francis Griffin who got him the sweetheart deal, approved by Justice Robert Mullen. Why would Mullen approve such a lenient sentence?
Griffin made a motion Monday to dismiss the first six counts and move ahead with a sentence based on Tankerley’s plea, which Superior Court Justice Robert Mullen allowed.
Many people are being killed by automobiles which are operated by people who are intoxicated, or for whatever reason are driving dangerously. Their licenses should be suspended until they're rehabilitated.
At the website for the Maine Department of Corrections, I found Tankerley. All you need is a person's name and at you can find out if they're incarcerated and when they are expected to be released at Adult Resident/Adult Community Corrections Client Search.
I thought I'd try to find out more about the prosecutor, and found another story at the CentralMaine website: "'Staggering' departures at Kennebec-Somerset region district attorney's office." The story is from 2012, 13 years ago, and I did discover who Griffin has a tie to:
On Thursday afternoon, Griffin took the oath of office, which was administered by his uncle, Maine Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Joseph M. Jabar.
And what kind of judge is or was Jabar? There's more information about Jabar in a recent story at MaineWire, in January of 2024: BREAKING: Mills to Send Moderate Maine Supreme Court Justice Jabar Packing.
Governor LePage reappointed Jabar after Jabar asked him to, so that he could reach 20 years of service, giving him a better retirement package. You can access the letter from that story, and from this one at NewsCenterMaine titled:Governor says Supreme Court justice is ignoring promise to retire.Gov. Janet Mills (D) will not be reappointing Justice Joseph M. Jabar, a longtime Maine jurist who has served in the Maine judiciary under Govs. Angus King (I), John Baldacci (D), and Paul LePage (R), according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Should we change the law to make the removal of judges easier, including those in the Supreme Court of the United States who overturn pivotal cases such as Roe v. Wade?
The entire justice system needs an overhaul! And officer misconduct is part of the problem that needs to be addressed.
Maine Corporal Ted Martin, I'm sure has done some good so far during his brief time with Maine State Police, but his arrest of me on July 10, 2024 was definitely wrong...and he has since lied in the police report. This photo is of page 3 of 4 of the July 8 police incident report. In it Martin states that I was intoxicated!
Nearly an entire sentence is redacted from the report; and someone made a note at the bottom of the page recommending this case be closed as not a crime...so why is the State of Maine prosecuting me? Because if they drop the case it's an admission that there was no probable cause to arrest, and that will give a civil rights case more validity and strength.
Police misconduct is happening in all states. It was not the first, second, or third time that the officer who arrested Tyreek Hill acted inappropriately. Yet, the story says Officer Danny Torres received an "award for professionalism in May 2023."
According to the records, the officer was accused of misconduct, force violations, and improper procedures. He was also reportedly investigated for using force at least 13 times during his service.
I just added a tab at the top of my page, regarding LAS and Karin Huffer who passed away in 2018. Also added a tab for Equal Access Advocates (EAA). There are some good videos there, one explaining about PTSD.
How many people in the United States suffer from LAS and don't even realize it? Could it be our broken justice system is to blame for much of the violence in America?
Huffer discovered that many of the legal system's victims suffer from a variant of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which she has termed "Legal Abuse Syndrome." The condition derives from the abusive and protracted litigation that many plaintiffs commonly encounter in the courts.
In March of 2019, Mark Cardilli Jr. shot and killed Isahak Muse. The Somali community was upset it took almost one week for an arrest to be made. After a bench trial, Cardilli was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting of his younger sister's boyfriend in their parents' home; and he was sentenced to 7.5 years on December 27, 2019.
State of Maine v. Mark Cardilli Jr.
But did Cardilli act in self-defense... afraid he and his family would be harmed by a man who was intoxicated, refusing to leave, and who was not supposed to be in the Cardilli home in the first place?
The presiding judge was Justice Nancy Mills, who is the governor's sister. Cardilli appealed, and after a post-conviction review, including testimony from experts on self-defense, Superior Court Justice John O'Neil ordered a new trial for Cardilli, who hadn't had effective counsel.
8-22-23 Order on Post-Conviction Review
However, the State of Maine appealed that decision to the Maine Supreme Court, and it vacated the judgement, meaning Cardilli won't get a post conviction review.
4-11-24 Mark Cardilli Jr. v. State of Maine
You might recognize the name of one of Cardilli's attorneys: Sarah Churchhill. She was later appointed to be a judge in Androscoggin County Superior Court, and realeased a dangerous man on $1500 bail. He ended up in a stand off in Auburn on Father's Day weekend and was shot and killed. Two homes were burned and inside one, a body was found.
Governor Mills didn't agree with Churchhill's release of Leein Hinckley. From this Sun Journal story:
“In my view, given the severity of the charges, the defendant’s criminal history and the serious danger he posed, these important, competing interests were not properly balanced in this case,” Mills wrote.
The governor said the judge could've appointed an attorney to Leein Hinkley. Doesn't Governor Mills know there's a lack of attorney's in Maine? The ACLU filed a lawsuit 2.5 years ago against the MCILS (Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services):
Maine's attorney general, Aaron Frey, was added as a defendant, but recently dismissed from the lawsuit. However, the State of Maine was added as a defendant; so exactly what is going on? The name of the Commission has been changed to MCPDS (Maine Commission on Public Defense Services). Oh geez, I just looked at the list of the Commission members, and former members at their website...and one of them was Sarah Churchhill.
Maine Commission on Public Defense Services
Bill Gates is not dead... Mike Lynch might be, he's missing after his yacht sank. And two days later, his co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain, was hit by a vehicle while running and died. According to this story:
"He and Lynch were both facing up to two decades behind bars if they were convicted of numerous fraud charges linked to the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11billion (£8.64billion) back in 2011."
"The businessman, who was facing up to two decades behind bars if convicted, said he was 'elated' after being cleared of the charges, but told the BBC he only managed it because of his staggering wealth."
He was taken to the Androscoggin County Jail with his bail set at $10,000. “Jolicoeur posted bail and has since been released from jail,” said police.
From the story Former Maine Fire Chief pleads to reduced charges in fraud case:
He had been charged with forgery, theft, and aggravated criminal invasion of computer privacy, all of which are felonies. But those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement he reached with the Hancock County District Attorney’s Office.
The town of Gouldsboro didn't fire him, he resigned and was hired by the town of Winter Harbor last fall, but was soon fired when they learned of the charges. I'm not surprised that Tatum McLean got no jail time. The plea was accepted by Justice Harold (Hal) Stewart II.
Stewart, in 2016 dismissed a case I had in Caribou Superior Court; use my search bar to read more. I had been denied an equal share of pooled tips when I was a waitress at Long Lake Sporting Club for a short time; and, as well I wasn't paid for a few hours I worked simply because nobody had come to eat that night...also clearly illegal. The Maine Human Rights Commission failed me as well as the Superior Court.
Patrisha McLean interviews the Maine Commissioner of Prisons, Randall Liberty.
At 34:30 he says bail shouldn't be based on someone's wealth, but on the threat level.