SAN FRANCISCO -- Jury deliberations continue Friday at the
trial of a former Danville officer charged with accepting cocaine and a handgun
for arresting drunken drivers at the direction of a former Concord private
investigator.
Deliberations in the trial of Stephen Tanabe were suspended
Thursday morning after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer excused a juror who
spoke English as a second language and was having trouble fully comprehending
jury instructions as a result. An alternate juror was substituted in midday,
and the panel began anew in its deliberations.
Tanabe, 50, of Alamo, is charged with seven conspiracy and
extortion counts for allegedly taking bribes to facilitate three
drunken-driving arrests in late 2010 and early 2011. His defense attorney says
he never accepted any kind of payment and that he has been set up by
Christopher Butler, a now-incarcerated private investigator who set up men for
"Dirty DUIs" so that their estranged spouses could have leverage in family
law court.