Caswell Lakes man convicted of threatening troopers

PALMER — After a short afternoon of deliberations, a Palmer jury has convicted Adam Cardwell of threatening to kill Alaska State Troopers.

Cardwell was charged with eight counts of assault in the case, all stemming from threats he made to kill troopers. The type of assault charged applies to threats of death or bodily harm. The jury went into deliberations late Friday morning and came back with a verdict about 3 p.m. Cardwell was found guilty on seven of eight charges.

Cardwell, 45, of Caswell Lakes, was arrested in the wee hours of the morning April 12. In the calls he made, a number of which were played at trial, he said he had a shotgun loaded with buckshot and was about to go out hunting troopers.

Cardwell was not an unknown quantity where troopers were concerned. For years, he and his wife, Debbie Cardwell, have accused troopers of raping her after she was arrested for DUI in 2003. The allegations, prosecutors say, started with one trooper then grew to two and now include a half-dozen officers, two district attorneys, a sitting judge and four jailers.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Roetman said in his closing statements to the jury that Cardwell’s belief that his wife was raped was false. He said troopers have looked into it numerous times and found no evidence to prove otherwise. The Cardwells simply couldn’t accept that, he said.

Still, he said, what Cardwell believed doesn’t really matter. All it does, he said, is show why Cardwell was angry.

What is at issue in the trial, he said, is whether Cardwell made threats and whether when he did, that he intended to put the troopers in fear of their lives or safety.

Roetman said Cardwell’s own words were enough to convict him, pointing to testimony Cardwell gave that he was trying to do something “shocking” to bring some attention to his complaint.

“Shocking, by placing people in fear of serious injury or death,” Roetman said.

At trial, Roetman asked Cardwell about each and every trooper he threatened. Cardwell freely admitted to threatening them.

He pointed out that Cardwell was basically arguing that to get justice he could do what he liked and used an analogy to prove why that wasn’t OK.

“Let’s have him call Sherrod Swanson schools and threaten to kill some teachers because he doesn’t like the grades he’s getting,” Roetman said. “It’s no different in this case.”

On the other side, Cardwell’s attorney Greg Parvin argued that the crucial aspect of the case is the idea of intent.

“This case isn’t about what was said and done. It’s about what was Adam Cardwell’s state of mind

Cardwell, Parvin argued, didn’t intent to scare the troopers. He only intended to get his message heard. Whether Cardwell’s story about his wife’s rape is believable, Parvin said, is immaterial.

“He loves his wife and he absolutely believes she was raped,” Parvin said. “He wanted help then. He wanted help when he made this phone call. And he is entitled to that help.”

Parvin also pointed out that for Cardwell, making a call like this is just part of his daily routine. He calls troopers constantly. He’s called senators and politicians, universities and research institutions. He even tried seeking help from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. And he has the president’s public phone number memorized.

“He’s called the White House, I think he said, three times a day every day,” Parvin said.

The dispatcher who talked to Cardwell the day he was arrested didn’t seem concerned, Parvin said, and only took down what Cardwell said and put it in a file. They ended with a friendly exchange of good-byes.

And, he said, if the troopers were so concerned, why did they show up and Cardwell’s house with non-lethal weapons — guns firing beanbag rounds?

“There was no testimony at all that they ever thought they were going to have to shoot the guy,” Parvin argued.

Cardwell is scheduled to receive his sentence Oct. 27.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.