San Diego

The judge in Nancy Hoover Hunter’s federal tax-evasion and fraud trial declined Friday to sequester jurors, but he ordered the panel to deliberate five, not four, days a week beginning next week.

U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam Jr. said he had thought “long and hard” about sequestering the jury, particularly because of recent media attention.

But he said jurors, who are considering 197 counts against Hunter, are “enlightened, cooperative and sensitive to this case being tried in the atmosphere it was being tried in.” The judge said he has “every confidence” that the panel will be “fair and dutiful” without sequestering.

Instead of locking up the group, Gilliam ordered another day tacked on to the weekly schedule, beginning Monday, making their workweek at the court a full five days. Still, he urged jurors to take their time and decide the case “coolly and calmly.”

Jurors completed their 10th day of deliberation Friday without a verdict.

Hunter faces charges of conspiracy, federal tax evasion and fraud stemming from her role as a top executive from 1979 to 1984 at the La Jolla investment firm of J. David & Co.

About 1,500 investors were bilked out of $80 million in the affair, a giant Ponzi scheme in which prosecutors allege Hunter played an active role. Defense attorneys contend she was blinded by her love for the firm’s founder, J. David Dominelli, and was unaware of any illegal activities.

Dominelli pleaded guilty in 1985 to four counts of fraud and tax evasion and is in federal prison.

Hunter’s trial began March 28. It is believed to be the longest criminal trial in the history of San Diego federal court.