UPDATED: Bradley’s Attorney Blames Pocket Dial for Calls to Wife

It was a pocket dial that led to former mayor Adam Bradley’s arrest last week, Bradley’s attorney said Wednesday morning after an appearance in White Plains City Court.

Bradley, arraigned on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree criminal contempt before White Plains City Court Judge Brian Hansbury. His attorney, Randall Cutler, said calls made to his estranged wife were accidental and made from Bradley’s pocket while he was working out at Equinox gym in Scarsdale.

“This is a case of a misunderstanding,” Cutler said. “It was a pocket-dial.”

Bradley was arrested last week after his wife, Fumiko Bradley, told police she received several calls from him. Fumiko said she received a 53-second call to her home phone from a number she recognized as Bradley’s cell phone on Saturday, Nov. 12, at approximately 1:01 p.m., according to court documents. Fumiko told police she recognized Bradley’s laughter, which she said sounded crazed and eventually turned into a squealing sound. Fumiko told police she became “physically upset and alarmed” and ended the phone call.

A March 17, 2011 order of protection issued by Judge Susan M. Capeci ordered Adam Bradley to stay away from Fumiko and refrain from any communication, including phone calls.

Bradley, who resigned as White Plains mayor in February after just 13 months on the job, was convicted of attempted assault, harassment and contempt last year after an incident with his wife. Bradley is in the process of appealing the convictions, saying he is innocent of the charges.

Cutler said there were three calls made from the former mayor to his wife over the past several months. Bradley deleted Fumiko’s number from his phone after the first one, Cutler said, but two more accidental calls were made because the number was stored in his recent call log after the couple’s young children called Adam Bradley from their mother’s phone.

Cutler said the description in the court papers was consistent with an accidental phone call.

“[The crazed laugh] would probably be the ambient sound. There was also a squealing that she didn’t recognize,” Cutler said. “I don’t know if you’ve ever had a pocket call before, but that’s what you get.”

On Wednesday, Bradley was again ordered to have no further contact with his wife.

“If you violate this order of protection, it’s a separate and distinct crime,” Hansbury said.

The Westchester District Attorney’s office had asked that bail be set at $10,000, but Hansbury released Bradley on his own recognizance. Bradley is due in Westchester County Integrated Domestic Violence Court on December 13.

Bradley, a Democrat, served in the New York State Assembly from 2003 to 2009, when he was elected mayor.