Don't Tase me, ... Ma??
Call it a wash, or is turnabout not actually fairplay, even if she is, well, perhaps a little bit off? lol She did get pepper sprayed and handcuffed for her trouble, after all.
NEW SHARON -- A donkey, birds, a pig and alpacas were among the creatures seized Thursday from the home of a New Sharon woman convicted of animal cruelty in 2004 and who had been banned from owning animals for a lifetime.
Carol Murphy, 65, of 248 Lane Road, is being held at the Franklin County jail on $10,000 cash bail on multiple charges including criminal use of an electronic-stun weapon against a Maine State Police Trooper.
The bail was set at Murphy's arraignment in Farmington District Court because she is considered dangerous.
Murphy allegedly fired a stun gun into Maine State Police Trooper Aaron Turcotte's face Wednesday afternoon when he attempted to arrest her on a warrant for unpaid fines, according to Lt. Donald Pomelow, commander of the state police barracks in Skowhegan.
Turcotte was not injured and used pepper spray to subdue Murphy in order to secure her in handcuffs.
Murphy is also charged with refusing to submit to arrest, assault and additional charges are pending of animal cruelty. She has also violated the lifetime ban on possessing animals, officials said.
In 2005, Murphy was convicted in Franklin County Superior Court of animal cruelty and four counts of illegal possession of wildlife, namely two Russian tortoises, pygmy hedgehogs, a peacock, and a Quaker parrot. At her trial, officials described the conditions in her home and her barn as "horrific" where animals were suffering from starvation, dehydration and exposure.
Murphy was sentenced to six months in jail with all but 24 hours suspended followed by a year of probation. She also was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and $3,174 in restitution to the state for the cost of caring for the animals. According to the court, she has failed to pay those fines.
Pomelow said that at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday, Turcotte went to Murphy's house to serve the arrest warrant. He met Murphy in the yard and told her she was under arrest. She said she needed to secure the house and Turcotte allowed her to go inside.
"He had not anticipated any problems," Pomelow said. "Aaron even held the screen door open for her when she came out but then she turned around and used the stun gun on him."
"He ordered her to drop the weapon and when she did not cooperate, he used a chemical spray," he said.
Turcotte observed that there were animals in the house when he heard a donkey braying, saw roosters in the yard and smelled the distinct odor of animal feces emanating from inside, officials said.
On Thursday, six staff members from the Maine Department of Agriculture's Animal Welfare Program, including director Norma Worley, returned to Murphy's home with a search warrant and removed 40 animals.
The animals seized include a miniature donkey and two alpacas that were in a side barn standing in deep manure. Inside were dogs, cats, parrots, chickens, ducks, guinea hens and a pot-bellied pig, all mostly in cages, Worley said.
"They will all need some care and rehabilitation. They are being distributed to shelters across the state where they will be treated," she said.
The state pays the cost of veterinary care and boarding and although restitution is sought to reimburse the care, it is not always collected, she said.
Animal cruelty carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. As part of the sentence, a judge may prohibit a person from possessing animals and could order the cost of veterinary care, food and medicine be reimbursed.
You would think this would be obvious, but using a taser on a State Trooper (especially unprovoked) is generally a bad idea.
Posted by: Joe | Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 01:23 PM