Posted on 09/29/2006 12:38:08 AM PDT by raccoonradio
SALEM - A Salem man is facing charges that he threatened to shoot a local judge during a call to a radio talk show host last week.
John Adelman, 53, allegedly called "The Scott Allen Miller Show" on WRKO on the morning of Sept. 19, telling the host he had just voted for a candidate who supports term limits for judges. He went on to claim he had been subjected to anti-Semitism from a judge and finally suggested that in the absence of term limits, "a gun could fix it."
Miller, the host, quickly cut the call short, lambasting Adelman for his comment and telling him to "go to hell." The station then contacted court officials, who in turn contacted Salem police.
Investigators believe Adelman's comments were directed toward Salem District Court Judge Robert Cornetta, the subject of past complaints by Adelman, who was unhappy over the outcome of a court case.
Lt. Conrad Prosniewski said he and other officers listened to a tape of the call provided by the radio station and immediately recognized Adelman's voice.
Adelman has been involved in approximately 63 incidents reported to police since 1993, according to the complaint. Some of those incidents were complaints by Adelman against others, while other complaints were against Adelman. The incidents include harassing phone calls and threats.
Adelman, of Salem, was arrested Tuesday evening on a warrant and appeared yesterday in Salem District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of threatening to commit a crime. He is free on $500 cash bail and is due back in court on Nov. 13.
A transcript of the radio call follows:
Scott Allen Miller: John from Salem, thanks for calling in today from the Witch City. What's up, watcha doing today?
John Adelman: Well I voted for Chris Gabrieli this morning. He was the only Democratic candidate supporting term limits for judges.
Miller: That'd be nice. Be nice to have some sort of accountability with the folks on the bench.
Adelman: Well after I had some limited exposure to the criminal justice system and saw that there were anti-Semitic judges in Salem, Massachusetts, I thought, well, how do you discipline someone who behaves so poorly? Looking at the background I saw that he had honors undergraduate and graduate degrees and knows better but still behaves the way he behaves.
Miller: Not much you can do about it in Massachusetts.
Adelman: I, um, think a gun could fix it.
Miller: Oh get out of here. Yeah, we're talking about the ballot box and he wants to go to the bullet box. Go to hell. Don't bring that to my show.
Mr. Adelman isn't very bright!
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