San Diego

An attorney for Nancy Hoover Hunter refused Wednesday to turn over a list of the first 10 defense witnesses because he doesn’t believe that the prosecution will rest its case next week.

Robert Brewer Jr. told U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam that, according to a prosecution list, there are 16 witnesses remaining in that phase of the trial and “they will directly affect the type of defense that we will put on.”

He and co-counsel Richard Marmaro have discussed “a distinct possibility” that they will call between zero and hundreds of witnesses, Brewer said.

“We don’t know if we’re going to call 10 witnesses,” Brewer said.

Last week, Hunter’s attorneys presented a potential witness list that contained 529 names “in an abundance of caution.” However, they have previously estimated it will take three weeks to put on their defense of the former Del Mar mayor.

Hunter is charged with 234 counts related to the giant J. David & Co. Ponzi scheme, which defrauded about 1,200 people out of nearly $90 million.

Responding to Brewer, Assistant U.S. Atty. S. Gay Hugo said she plans to call only six more witnesses. Hugo also complained to Gilliam that the handing over of documents related to individual witnesses--called discovery in legal terms--is “a one-way street.”

“The government has never gotten up and ranted and raved (that) we haven’t received any discovery,” Hugo said.

Gilliam did not make any ruling on the issue of the first 10 witnesses.

The trial resumes today with IRS Agent Paul T. Perry under cross-examination by Marmaro.