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Courtroom threat has man seeking protection order against judge

The Associated Press
Monday October 21, 2002

 

LOS ANGELES – A 41-year-old man has asked for a protection order against his girlfriend’s father, a Superior Court judge who testified during a child custody hearing that he would kill him. 

Judge James A. Kaddo told a court in April that he would kill Fadi Nora because he didn’t want the man near his three grandchildren — a remark he now says he regrets. 

“It was a stupid thing to say, but I was a grandfather in tears,” Kaddo told the Los Angeles Times in an article published Sunday. 

In court documents filed last month in Orange County Superior Court, Nora said the remark is the latest in a series of threats Kaddo has made against him since he began dating Kaddo’s daughter two years ago. 

Nora has asked the court to bar Kaddo from coming within 150 yards of him, his home, his car or his workplace. A hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 25. 

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges against Kaddo, 68, saying investigators concluded the remarks were not an actual threat, but “an inappropriate emotional response to a very charged issue,” the Times reported. 

During the hearing, Kaddo urged Commissioner Ann Dobbs to deny his daughter’s bid for custody of her three children, ranging in ages from 8 to 13. He wanted her to return to her husband and leave Nora. 

“I can’t stand to have that psycho around my grandkids. I’m going to do what I have to do to save my grandchildren,” said Kaddo, according to a transcript of the hearing. 

When asked what he meant, Kaddo said, “If it means killing him, I will do it.” 

Kaddo’s attorney said the judge’s testimony was misinterpreted. 

In addition to seeking a restraining order against the judge, Nora filed a complaint with the state Commission on Judicial Performance, which investigates allegations of misconduct and disciplines judges.