San Diego

Nancy Hoover Hunter, accused of helping swindler J. David (Jerry) Dominelli bilk investors out of $80 million through his fraudulent investment firms, will be back in court Feb. 2, a judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge Earl Gilliam also denied a request that transcripts of all grand jury proceedings dealing with Hunter be turned over to the defense because the prosecutor allegedly is not properly licensed to practice law in Southern California federal courts.

Defense attorney James Chalfont told Gilliam he will file a motion to dismiss the 234-count indictment against Hunter because Assistant U.S. Atty. Gay Hugo, who is prosecuting the case, hasn’t taken the national portion of the California bar examination. Attorneys are required to pass that test before they can practice law in the state.

“Miss Hugo did not meet that qualification before she signed the indictment and participated in this case, and that’s the point of the discovery motion,” Chalfont said.

Chalfont requested the grand jury transcripts so he can determine the extent of Hugo’s participation in bringing the indictment against Hoover last year. He said outside court that the dismissal motion will be filed in about three weeks.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Nancy Worthington, who argued that the defense is “fishing” for additional information to be used against Hunter at trial, said Hugo has been properly authorized by the U.S. attorney general’s office to prosecute federal cases while waiting to complete her legal exams Nov. 13.