On January 30, 2018, Caleb Gaul drove down his steep, icy driveway to ensure the path was clear for his wife, who was following in their van to take their three small children to school. He encountered a school bus parked on the Gauls’ private property and blocking their driveway, with the bus driver waiting to start morning pick-up. The bus driver refused to move the bus and instead called his supervisor at the school transportation department, who called the sheriff’s department.
Ultimately, Mr. Gaul, who used no force or intimidation, was arrested for obstructing government administration, handcuffed in front of his young children, and transported to the York County Jail in a police cruiser, where he was strip searched and held for five hours before making bail. All charges against him were later dropped.
We filed a lawsuit on Mr. Gaul’s behalf, arguing that his arrest and treatment violated the constitutional prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure and guarantee of safety and due process.
In January 2022, the court denied the government’s motion to dismiss our client’s claims that he was unconstitutionally strip-searched in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Maine Constitution. The trial for the unlawful search claims is set for January 2023.
