A New Sharon woman convicted of animal cruelty is facing a contempt hearing because she again has violated a lifetime ban on owning animals, police said.

Carol Murphy, 70, of Lane Road was charged with contempt of court after Maine State Police, Franklin County sheriff’s deputies and animal control officers searched her home Wednesday and seized four dogs, a cat, a pig, chinchillas and a rabbit, according to Assistant District Attorney Josh Robbins.

Murphy, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, has been in a contentious dispute with local, state and federal officials for nearly a decade about her treatment of animals at her property. She has represented herself in all previous cases, which included lawsuits against judges.

The new summons against Murphy isn’t a criminal charge, but it initiates court proceedings to determine whether she complied with a previous court order prohibiting her from keeping animals, Robbins said. Prosecutors can seek jail time or a fine if she violated a court order, he said.

Robbins said the District Attorney’s Office received reports that Murphy had violated the ban, which led to the investigation and search warrant Wednesday.

In 2005, Murphy was convicted of one count of animal cruelty and four counts of possession without a permit after officials removed dozens of pets from her home. She was sentenced to 24 hours in jail, ordered to pay restitution and banned from owning animals.

The state said Murphy’s animals were being abused, were living in unhealthy and inhumane conditions where the air quality was poor and reeked of ammonia. Few animals had water or food in their cages, and a pig’s cage was so small the pig could not turn around, prosecutors said.

In 2010, she was convicted again of animal cruelty after law enforcement officers found more than 40 emaciated pets at her home.

In February 2009, U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. issued an order forbidding Murphy to sue in federal court without his explicit permission.

“She has not gone quietly,” Woodcock wrote in the order. “She has repeatedly resorted to federal court alleging a wide array of constitutional violations that she claims have been perpetrated against her as a consequence of state and municipal enforcement actions. Ms. Murphy’s lawsuits can each be characterized as frivolous, prolix, and contentious nonsense.

“Ms. Murphy has more than had her day in court. … She has lost at every turn,” Woodcock wrote.

In the 2010 trial, Murphy also was convicted of assaulting a state trooper who went to her home during the initial 2009 investigation in the case. According to a prosecutor at the time, Murphy used a stun gun on a state trooper’s neck when he tried to arrest her on a warrant for unpaid fines. The trooper was investigating a report that Murphy possessed animals in violation of the lifetime ban.

Murphy, in a 2012 court filing describing that incident, claimed the trooper was trespassing on her property “and attempted to unconstitutionally curtail my liberty by handcuffing me.”

“I resisted the unlawful arrest and attempted to Taser him. I missed,” Murphy wrote. “As can be heard on the patrol car’s audio, the Taser went off in the air followed immediately by the cop’s voice. The cop claimed the Taser ‘grazed’ his neck. But he had no burns. … I had a right to defend myself.”

When Murphy was searched at the jail, she was found to be carrying a 4-inch double-bladed knife, officials said.

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