March 28, 2024
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Protection order against chief denied

FORT KENT – A Fort Kent woman has been denied a protection order against Fort Kent Police Chief Kenneth Michaud after the court decided she failed to prove harassment.

Judge Bernard O’Mara, sitting in District Court at Fort Kent on April 22, ruled that Priscilla Staples, acting on her behalf and that of her brother, Reginald H. Staples, was not entitled to the protection order because she failed to prove Michaud harassed her and her brother.

Brewer lawyer Judith Thornton, representing Staples, said the decision is the end of the case.

“At this point, she does not intend to appeal the decision,” Thornton said Wednesday. “She wants to put it all behind her.

“She wants to move forward,” the attorney said. “She still has a land use case involving the town [Fort Kent].”

Neither Michaud nor Town Manager Don Guimond wanted to comment on the case, at least until the 21-day appeal period has passed.

John Wall, a Portland lawyer representing Michaud and the town, agreed it was a final decision unless appealed.

“Each side had their witnesses, six to eight people besides Michaud and Staples, and the judge made his decision,” he said.

Last week’s dismissal is the second dismissal in the case by the District Court in Aroostook County. The first dismissal was overturned last November by the Maine Supreme Judicial.

Staples filed for the protection order on Dec. 23, 2002, after there was a verbal confrontation between her and Michaud.

She said the confrontation occurred when she called the police department to make a complaint of noise by snowmobilers.

She also claimed Michaud’s threats and harassment continued when he addressed high school students at Fort Kent on Dec. 18, 2002.

Michaud filed a motion to dismiss the allegations against him on Feb. 18, 2003.

Judge David Griffiths, sitting in District Court in Presque Isle, had dismissed the complaint without a hearing, saying that Staples had failed to state her claim and any actionable conduct and alleged intent by Michaud.

Maine’s high court wrote that despite Michaud’s claims that the alleged threats were actually warnings, Staples should have received a hearing on her allegations, and then returned the case to District Court for hearing.

“It was her allegations that must be examined,” the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled last November.


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