Grandma arrested / Escessive Use of Force - My Fundraiser

My GoFundMe campaign was previously paused...though it appears it's back, and I just updated it. 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/Maine-activist-arrested.

Consider donating, and sharing my campaign with your favorite news station, reporter, legislator, or anyone you think would be interested. 

Here are a few emails you might want to send my story to, just copy the link above. 

info@ACLUMaine.org ACLU

pds@maine.gov Maine Commission for Public Defense Services 

8investigates@wmtw.com  WMTW

TellMeMore@mainepublic.org Maine Public Broadcasting publiccomment@lewistonmaine.gov Lewiston City Council

I hope for more support this time around, not only monetary but to share and get national attention on the issue of parental alienation and give hope for to other grandparents and parents who have been kept from children they love. 

If anyone wants to write to Shane, I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing from you. His birthdate is needed if you want to deposit money...the link is at the top of my blog. 

Shane Michaud 72847  D.O.B 9-24-88

807 Cushing Road

Warren ME 04864

Two ACLU cases - warrantless arrests/right to counsel

I'd like the ACLU to file a case for me or add me as a plaintiff regarding the one pending in Maine Supreme Court now for warrantless arrests. Mine was an arrest without a warrant or probable cause! You can read about Gaul v York County here.

The plaintiff, Caleb Gaul, claims he received a payout from law enforcement. Maine taxpayer dollars are being wasted on malicious prosecutions which often result in lawsuits or settlements against the state, and this lawsuit aims to put a stop to that.

Regarding the right to counsel, the ACLU filed a lawsuit over 3 years ago, on behalf of defendants facing jail time who were not appointed attorneys; Robbins v State of Maine has been certified as a class action lawsuit.  

Below is my email of 8-30-25 to the ACLU, and it includes my complaint to the Chief of Police of Lewiston, David St. Pierre, who announced his retirement soon after I handed it to him at council meeting on 7-15-25. Despite that I notified St. Pierre that the warrants were obtained without good reason, and asked him to investigate, he sent officers to arrest me the following day. I wasn't home and later turned myself in on July 17, paying the $560 "pay not to stay" fee called bail. 

On 8-30-25 to the ACLU (info@ACLUMaine.org) regarding Gaul v. York County et al.

Paula Michaud <paulajmichaud@gmail.com>

10:51 AM 

You have a case pending in Maine Supreme Court regarding warrantless arrests. I was arrested last summer after my family and I were threatened by a tenant. No warning was given to the tenant, but I was arrested without probable cause or a warrant, based on nothing but the guy's lies. I was charged with disorderly conduct. The police officer never made a report of the threat that I had received through text message. I spent 4 nights and 4 days in Aroostook County jail over Memorial Day weekend for failing to appear to pick a jury for this malicious prosecution.

In Aroostook County jail, I was thrown in the hole and left there for 18 hours for not complying with processing; I failed to tell where I was born. In the hole I had a hole in the floor for a toilet, and I was being choked by the vapors from my urine until finally a guard pushed the flush button after I complained. I did not get to make a phone call until Tuesday afternoon just before my release. The D.A. dismissed the charges saying that I'd suffered the consequences for failing to appear. 

No attorney could be appointed to me, the judge in Fort Kent District Court said at my initial appearance, because the state wasn't asking for jail time. The appointment should be based on whether the charges could result in jail time; obviously I did spend time in jail, so can I get an attorney appointed now? I never gave up my right to a jury trial, which cannot be withdrawn without the consent of both parties, MRCP 38 e. Furthermore, most people even if they can initially afford a retainer fee will be poor by the time a case is concluded.  

I am now being prosecuted based on other false claims; and the Lewiston police have arrested my three times due to the false claims. One of those arrests resulted in breaching of my door for failing to comply with what is another false arrest and malicious prosecution.

I would like the ACLU's assistance. 

I spoke again at a special meeting last night in Lewiston

On 8-26-25 a special meeting was held to discuss the hiring of a new police chief. I spoke at about 10 minutes, 52 minutes, and 1 hour 23 minutes in. The 8-26-25 meeting was streamed and you can view it here. 

I spoke at council meeting on April 1 also, just two days after Lewiston officers breached my door. Here is a link to the meeting minutes, in which I'm mentioned on page 1 and 3. 

On July 15, I spoke again; and I handed the chief of police, David St. Pierre, my complaint. Those minutes haven't been posted yet, said the new city administrator Bryan Kaenrath, who is a former legislator and was mayor of Waterville. He said the meeting on July 15, lasted 8 hours and that was why it was taking so long to approve and post the minutes. As there was a warrant for my arrest at the time, I left immediately after I gave St. Pierre my complaint. Today I found the Youtube video of the 7-15-25 meeting. I speak at 2:41 seconds into the meeting; we were there longer but the council had gone into executive session prior to that and the recording was paused. 

In my complaint, I claim that Lewiston police on March 24 and 30 of 2025 acted on warrants that were based on false claims. Nonetheless, the next morning, July 16 St. Pierre sent officers to my apartment building to arrest me. I wasn't home; Pete called to tell me, and I turned myself in the next afternoon...my freedom costing me $560. 

The arrest warrant in Lincoln County was issued after I failed to appear for my arraignment on June 12 on charges of stalking and violation of a protection order. I called the court on June 11 to report that I was unable to appear due to an obstruction in my eye that happened while Pete and I were removing a bush at our property in Saint Agatha. Also eye drops that I had started using had caused much irritation in both eyes.

At the meeting last night I mentioned the threat I had received from a tenant in Aroostook County last summer, and how Lewiston officers did not consider the message to be a threat when it clearly was. Finally I asked for accountability, and new ways to handle protection from abuse orders. I mentioned that alienation of good people from children's lives may be contributing to child abuse and neglect in Maine.

Jailed over Memorial Day weekend / another warrant since issued for my arrest!

I was jailed over Memorial Day weekend for failing to appear to pick a jury regarding phony charges in Aroostook County for which I was arrested on July 10 by Corporal Ted Martin. I had telephoned Maine State Police to make a complaint about a tenant who had yelled quite violently at his brother and I as we stood in the driveway attempting a conversation. 

Two nights earlier we had called police when the guy locked us out of the home he shared with Pete; and on June 6 he'd sent us disturbing texts and telephoned us at 2:30 a.m. claiming to have been shot by so-called friends of our oldest son. The officer didn't even look at the texts I told him about, or interview the guy's brother regarding my claim on July 10 that Kevin was being disorderly. Below is a text he sent to Aaron. I had called police and confirmed there'd been no reports of gunfire in the small town of Saint Agatha; Kevin was lying. He knew Aaron was severely beaten by gang members in Lewiston in October of 2022.

Martin spent about a half hour speaking with Kevin while Pete and I waited in the garage. Meanwhile we had a slight argument, and it's for that I was arrested and charged with attempted disorderly conduct!?!? The district attorney, Todd Collins, dropped that charge, saying the wrong subsection had been cited...but added one for disorderly conduct! We started the eviction process, but Kevin moved out before we got very far with it.

In his report, Corporal Martin lied... said I was intoxicated on July 8. I was not and can prove it; I recorded audio and I am speaking clearly, not slurring my speech as he claimed. I requested trial by jury and was scheduled to pick one on May 5; however I forgot to add the date to my calendar. I received notices regarding two other court dates in Lincoln County around the same time; and I'll tell you what for later. Pete and I left Lewiston for Northern Maine on April 25, and I didn't bring the notices with us and I missed the hearing.

It was during the eviction of yet another tenant, Michael Morgan (AKA Goldilocks), on May 23 in Fort Kent District Court that I was arrested. Judge Nelson was presiding over that case too, and he recognized me. I spent the first 18 hours of my confinement in Aroostook County jail in "the hole" because during processing I didn't answer the question "Where were you born?" I wasn't given a phone call until Tuesday afternoon just before my release. And here's the status of my case now. 

D.A. Todd Collins dismissed the charges. He should be indicted for malicious prosection and Corporal Ted Martin for the false arrest, and his failure to issue at least a warning to Kevin Thibeault regarding the threats and intimidation. Can I still get a trial by jury trial please, and an attorney? As stated in the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure regarding the right to a trial by jury, it cannot be withdrawn without the consent of both parties. 

Regarding the charges in Lincoln County which I mentioned earlier, my son's ex claims I am stalking my grandsons who she has succeeded in alienating us and their father from for about 4 years now. Judge John Martin granted a temporary protection order and then allowed it to become permanent, despite that she lied about me visiting the school in the beginning of March. I didn't go to the school, but did call asking to speak with the counselor. And I asked a coach for a schedule of sports events I believed my grandsons were in. There was no protection order on me at the time, and my actions do not meet the definition of stalking.

Shane was similarly charged for violating a protection order she had placed on him without real good reason. The court had not set certain days for visits, and when she ignored our requests, he wrote to her about "something other than to arrange visits" and because that was considered a violation of the protection order, he was denied mediation in their family matters case...also presided over by Judge John Martin. Shane is now incarcerated in Warren on unrelated charges.

Maine man says he received settlement from Maine cops

I read about a case of warrantless arrest a while back, like 4 or 5 years ago. Since then I've been wondering its status. Caleb Gaul had the assistance of the ACLU of Maine to sue law enforcement after he was arrested in his yard. 

Well, I found him on Facebook recently and friended him. He put out a short video. Apparently, his ex is keeping him from his children. He says so at the very beginning of the video when he lights up paperwork regarding the guardian ad litem. 

Then he says he was paid off by the cops and will eventually be paid off by the judges in Maine. He's no longer in Maine by the way. Here's the video. 

Taxpayers are the ones paying the cost of settlements when State of Maine employees misbehave. Maybe Caleb is under an obligation not to discuss or disclose the terms of a settlement; but Maine taxpayers have the right to know how their dollars are spent...to know how much the misdeeds of law enforcement cost us.  

Arrest, and dismissal of charges after incarceration

From a story at News Center Maine in 2018 by Shannon Moss "Getting out of jail in Maine: Who decides someone's bail after arrest" Anne Jordan says the bail commissioners set the bail amount and/or other conditions of release, and

...the taxpayers of Maine don't pay a penny for them. Bail commissioners make up to $60 dollars for each case, money paid for by the individual arrested.

Really? Taxpayers don't pay? I paid the $60, plus 4 days and 4 nights of my freedom on Memorial Day weekend 2025. I wouldn't pay the $250 for failing to appear to pick a jury for what would obviously be a sham trial, and Judge Nelson issued a warrant for my arrest. 

Nelson was the judge presiding over cases in Fort Kent on May 23 where we were scheduled to appear to evict a tenant who was renting a portion of the home in Saint Agatha, yet trying to claim it all as his and sleeping in our bedroom, in our bed! He's earned the nickname Goldilocks. 

The judge read the list of cases/names, and asked some to mediate. Soon the marshall politely told me that I was going to be arrested. It was Pete's name I put on the paperwork in case I couldn't be there. He and the tenant mediated; I wasn't allowed into the room! That's okay, in the adjacent room I could hear alot of what was said by putting my ear to the wall. 

The Fort Kent Chief of police soon arrived. He's Michael DeLena. Then an Aroostook County sheriff deputy arrived to take me to Houlton County jail; Pete recorded the arrest on his cell phone.

During processing I was thrown in the hole for not complying, and left there for 18 hours. "I was born in Fort Kent, Maine" is all I would have had to say to avoid that. Sing and exercise is all I could do. Sleep was impossible on a narrow hard bench with nothing but a blanket, and the screams of desperation from guys in nearby cells.  

One guy was begging to go back to the shower, saying it hurt. I found out he'd been pepper sprayed. He was in for criminal mischief; I didn't ask for more details. It was difficult to hear each other through the prison doors. He was only 20 years old. I asked if he had family that helped him. He said he did. I asked if he had a girlfriend. I was surprised by his answer because it sounded like "f*** you". It was actually "a few." When he was making noise some of the guys were telling him to "shut the f*** up", so I hollered out "he's just a kid."

The water was horrible, tasted like chlorine. After several hours in the hole, I started to cough. My throat felt irritated; I soon realized that it was due to the ammonia vapors in the room. I asked for them to flush the toilet - a hole in the cement floor.

In passing by other inmates to get my lunch tray when I was moved to the general population, I mentioned my son's name. One of the inmates said her boyfriend, who'd just been released was Shane's friend in prison in Warren. 

It took a whole day to get something for my lips; by Tuesday they were so chapped they were about to bleed! I asked a few different guards but it was only when the medic came around that I got some from her. 

I wasn't even given a phone call until Tuesday afternoon shortly before I was released. One of the girls said from their window she could see a man in a white truck had been parked there for hours...it was Pete. He thought I'd see the judge and be released on Tuesday morning. I didn't see the judge.

The district attorney, satisfied that I'd been punished enough, dismissed the charges... though the only thing I'm guilty of is failing to consent to a kangaroo court proceeding and a waste of taxpayer dollars. 

My arraignment - Judge and officer payroll records

On November 4, 2024 I was arraigned in Fort Kent District Court. The case was presided over by Judge Carrie Linthicum.

I later 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 who is now presiding over this ridiculous charge of disorderly conduct, had the same pay as Linthicum. And I found the pay for the Maine State trooper Ted Martin who arrested me. He must have had an increase in pay around the time of my arrest on July 10, 2024 because he'd just been promoted to corporal, imagine that.

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. 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.

So now, for what happened at my arraignment. She, the judge, would not drop the bail condition which forbid me to be at the home on our property...even though our tenant moved out soon after my arrest and notice of eviction. I did not agree that the court had jurisdiction and would not enter a plea, so Judge Linthicum entered one for me, of "not guilty".

Unanimous decision reversed - Judicial misconduct?

A unanimous decision by the Maine Supreme Court is reversed by the Maine Supreme Court in Pushard v. Finch. The decision involves the proceedures used by financial institutions in foreclosures.

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.

Sorry, but there'll be no more free houses if the bank makes an error people. I mean it was a unanimous decision, now overturned. That's unusual. I found a story at the Seacoastonline by Douglas Rooks on January 4 2025, titled Judicial ethics complaints can't be ignored in Maine which shed some light on this case. 

For the first time ever, one of its own members, Associate Justice Catherine Connors, has been recommended for discipline by the Committee on Judicial Conduct after failing to recuse herself for an important foreclosure case in which she cast the deciding vote. 

I see....could it be she had ties to the winning party in that case?

Domestic violence victims - how they feel about police

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.

Office of Professional Standards (OPS) - Maine

📞On Thursday I received a phone call from Officer Christopher Tupper of the Office of Professional Standards regarding my complaint against Corporal Ted Martin. He asked if I had a lawyer. I said "Not yet." I told him I had audio and video footage of Martin's wrongful arrests of me on July 10, and another woman in Saint Agatha on July 11. He wanted me to send him this evidence. I told him "When you play poker, you don't show all your cards."

I have an appointment to speak with an attorney in Aroostook County on Thursday regarding the wrongful arrest and about Shane being sentenced without due process. The Pulitzer Center wrote about accountability of Maine law enforcement in 2019, and you can see that most officers only received temporary suspensions...in other words, unpaid vacations.

Maine House of Reps - seat won by man accused of domestic violence

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.

Evidence exposed - Shane's case

Shane’s been incarcerated now since November 22 of 2022. He accepted a plea bargain for the shooting of Justin Steggall and was sentenced by Justice Stephen Nelson on 11-08-23 in Aroostook County Superior Court.

There is evidence Shane likely acted in self-defense; however the investigator who Attorney Verne Paradie hired, Hank Dusenbery, failed to go to Aroostook to question the men in the text message below which I received after Shane was arrested.

I was present during the sentencing, by Zoom; and I tried to notify Judge Nelson about the text message, but Shane's attorney had him mute me! Justin's own actions just days before the shooting should be considered comparative negligence.

Shane had reason to believe his life or that of others might be in danger. There are other mitigating factors which should be evaluated and the charges dropped or his sentence be much less.

I had sent Attorney Paradie the text between the men, and a link to Aroostook County indictments that I found online the following summer for charges against Justin for things he apparently did before the shooting.

https://thecounty.me/2023/06/12/news/grand-jury-hands-up-may-indictments/ 

Justin L. Steggall, 27, Limestone: aggravated operating after habitual offender revocation (three counts), eluding an officer, operating after revocation, criminal speed, driving to endanger and operating an unregistered vehicle.

Nelson presided over my case in Aroostook County, AROCD CR 2024 20209, regarding phony disorderly conduct charges. The arrest last summer was without a warrant or probable cause. On May 23, 2025 Nelson ordered me arrested during the eviction matter of Michael Morgan (AKA Goldilocks) in Fort Kent District Court. We've stopped looking for a new tenant/family and should started taking AirBnB bookings in about a week. We had one for mid October but they just cancelled; at least I know the process is working!

Follow my blog to get updates about mine and my son’s cases.

Letter to the Court, District Attorney, and Maine State Police

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. 

I'm being charged with Disorderly Conduct, but no warning was even given to Kevin for what he did! 

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.