Phone: 510-460-5641
Posted: 09/13/2013
uilty plea expected in Conta Costa 'dirty DUI'
Justin Berton
Updated 12:02 am, Friday, September 13, 2013
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(09-12) 19:29 PDT CLAYTON -- A divorce attorney linked to the private investigator at the center of Contra Costa County's "dirty DUI" scandal is expected to plead guilty later this month to charges that she hired him to plant listening devices inside the car of a client's ex-husband.
Mary Nolan, 61, was indicted by a grand jury last year on four counts of tax evasion and allegedly paying former private investigatorChristopher Butler to bug cars on her behalf. Court records show she is scheduled to enter a guilty plea Sept. 27.
Nolan's attorneys did not respond to a phone call for comment.
The divorce attorney's name first surfaced in 2010 after two men told The Chronicle that Nolan had used their drunken-driving arrests against them during divorce and custody battles.
Nolan represented both men's ex-wives in family law court.
The men, David Dutcher of Concord and Declan Woods of Clayton, later filed lawsuits alleging Nolan had worked with Butler to ensure their arrests to "dirty" them up before court proceedings.
Butler has admitted to conceiving the so-called "dirty DUI," which he also called a "designed coincidence." For Dutcher and Woods, Butler hired female "decoys" to approach the men, drink with them at a bar and then ask the men to follow them in their car to another destination. Then, Butler would call 911 or a police officer to report a drunken driver.
Brian Gearinger, an attorney who represents Dutcher, said Nolan's change of plea and sentencing will allow the lawsuits by Dutcher and Woods to move forward.
"We trust the interest of justice will be served by her plea and subsequent sentencing," Gearinger said.
Butler, who was sentenced to eight years in prison last year, testified in a separate criminal trial last month that Nolan had hired him to conduct Woods' DUI arrest.
Under oath, the private eye also admitted to planting eavesdropping devices inside "hundreds" of cars for clients.
Nolan was never charged in connection with the drunken-driving scandal.
According to the State Bar of California website, Nolan voluntarily deactivated her bar license Sept. 1. Court records also show she is selling her Oakland home to help pay a portion of the $1.8 million in taxes the IRS claims she failed to report.
Nolan's charges call for a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.
Justin Berton is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jberton@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @justinberton
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