“We want to thank the jurors for their hard work,” defense attorney David Banes said in an interview.
In an e-mail to the Variety, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley, who prosecuted the case, said; “Obviously I am disappointed. I think the evidence we presented was overwhelming. But the [U.S.] government’s job, and my job, is just to introduce facts as completely and as clearly as I can. From there, it is the jury’s job to decide what to do with it. I’m satisfied with the job we did in this case.”
The jurors started their deliberation on Friday morning. They recessed at past 4 p.m.
They convened again at 8:30 yesterday morning. At around 3 p.m., they told Judge David Carter that they had reached a verdict for count two of the extortion charges against Deleon Guerrero.
Carter provided the jurors final instructions at about 3:15 p.m.
At past 4 p.m., the jurors said they had reached a verdict for both counts.
Leon Guerrero thanked Banes, his wife and children, family members and friends who gathered outside the Horiguchi Building yesterday.
“We will invite you to the retirement party being prepared by my wife,” Leon Guerrero told Banes.
Leon Guerrero, who retired from his 15 years in police service after his arrest last November, posed for pictures with his two grandsons.
Leon Guerrero then embraced his wife and they proceeded to the nearby Kristo Rai Church to pray.
During the jury trial last week and the jury deliberations on Friday and yesterday, Leon Guerrero, his family and supporters gathered outside the church.
After an illegal taxicab driver agreed to be a cooperating witness, the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed Leon Guerrero under surveillance last year.
During the trial, the prosecution presented over a dozen of audio recordings in which the cooperating witness, “Tiger,” was heard giving bribes to the then-detective.
But the defense argued that “Tiger” was also being used by Leon Guerrero to dismantle the illegal taxicab operations on Saipan.
The defense said there was no evidence showing that Deleon Guerrero accepted bribes.
