At Trial Linked to J. David & Co. : Hunter’s Lawyers Lose Bid for Dismissal Again

U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam on Friday denied for the third time a motion by Nancy Hoover Hunter’s lawyers to have her case dismissed.

Defense attorney Richard Marmaro argued that prosecutors acted in the “height of bad faith” by allowing Tom Shepard, whose firm managed the campaign of former Mayor Roger Hedgecock, to testify Wednesday that he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of breaking California campaign contribution laws.

Although this fact was not revealed to the jury, Hunter was a partner in Shepard’s consulting firm and a co-defendant in the case that led to Hedgecock’s resignation from office.

Marmaro also argued that a $3,000 check from J. David (Jerry) Dominelli, which led to a heated exchange between Shepard and Assistant U.S. Atty. Stephen Clarke, was irrelevant to the Hunter case.

Responding to a question from Clarke on Wednesday, Shepard said a statement he signed as part of a plea bargain “was like the confessions that Chinese students are being forced to sign now.”

“It got out of hand,” said Marmaro, who also argued that Clarke was trying to impeach his own witness when he showed Shepard a copy of his statement “to refresh his recollection.”

The issue of Hunter’s conviction in the campaign contribution case was declared off-limits by Gilliam at the start of the current fraud trial.

In denying the motion, Gilliam said that Marmaro failed to demonstrate how Hunter’s defense was compromised by Shepard’s testimony.

“I think the government is going to try to link my client to that crime,” Marmaro said, referring to Shepard’s conviction.

Gilliam also said that government prosecutors had the right to impeach Shepard after he made the “China comment.”

“If the witness volunteers that Mrs. (Hunter) was involved, then I can’t help you,” Gilliam told Marmaro. However, Gilliam did order prosecutors to avoid forcing Shepard to reveal that Hunter was involved when he retakes the witness stand on Tuesday.

Clarke offered no response to Marmaro’s accusations about bad faith. “I categorically deny every allegation he made,” he said.

Two prior defense motions to dismiss the case, which were formally filed in court last month, were also denied by Gilliam.

Investors who lost money when the J. David & Co., owned and operated by Dominelli, went bankrupt in 1984 continued to testify Friday. Sandra Curtiss-Guerrero said she had several conversations with both Dominelli and Hunter as far back as 1977, when she purchased Ginnie Mae bonds from Dominelli.

“She said maybe I would be interested in Jerry’s pet project--those two words, pet project--I remember that vividly,” Curtiss-Guerrero said.

Even though Hunter told her that the minimum investment in the “pet project” was $50,000, Dominelli authorized an initial investment of $5,000, Curtiss-Guerrero testified.

When questioned by Assistant U.S. Atty. S. Gay Hugo, Curtiss-Guerrero testified that both Hunter and Dominelli told her that the “pet project” investment in J. David would yield a 100% return. But, on cross-examination by Marmaro, Curtiss-Guerrero recanted, saying that Hunter merely retrieved papers while following Dominelli’s orders. However, Hunter’s role in convincing her to invest $5,000 was stressed by Curtiss-Guerrero, who said, “She did a selling job on it, too.”

At the close of Friday’s session, the 12 jurors and four alternates were questioned by Gilliam about having heard anything spoken about the case. One juror said that she had been confronted by three people, but told them she couldn’t talk about it.

Defense attorneys have made several attempts to have the jury sequestered for the remainder of the trial, but Gilliam has not done so.

In a related matter, defense attorney Robert Brewer Jr. entered another news story into the court record as he noted the “biasness” of the San Diego media against Hunter.