Full Verdict in Hunter Case Is Questionable : Justice: Three jurors doubt the group can reach a a full verdict on 197 counts against Nancy Hoover Hunter. The judge gave the group the afternoon off, but ordered them back to deliberations on Monday.

Jurors in Nancy Hoover Hunter’s federal tax evasion and fraud trial indicated Friday that they had reached partial verdicts but were “unable to render a complete verdict in the case.”

At a late-morning hearing, three of the 12 jurors told U. S. Judge Earl B. Gilliam they did not feel the panel could reach a full verdict on the 197 counts against Hunter.

But, because nine jurors indicated there was at least a chance that a complete verdict can be reached, Gilliam ordered the panel to return Monday morning for further deliberations--though he gave them all of Friday afternoon off.

In a “situation of debate,” Gilliam said, “sometimes a mind will become clearer after a rest period.”

The judge did not ask the panel to reveal what verdicts it had reached.

The charges against Hunter stem from her role as a top executive in the La Jolla investment firm J. David & Co. from 1979 to 1984, when its checks began to bounce and nervous investors forced the firm into bankruptcy.

In all, investors lost about $80 million in the J. David affair, a giant Ponzi scheme in which prosecutors allege that Hunter played an active role. Hunter’s defense lawyers have contended throughout the eight-month trial that she was blinded by her love for the founder of the firm, J. David (Jerry) Dominelli, and was unaware of any illegal activities.

Dominelli pleaded guilty in 1985 to four counts of fraud and tax evasion in connection with the investment firm’s Ponzi scheme and is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison.

Jurors in Hunter’s case had embarked Friday morning upon their 14th day of deliberations when they sent Gilliam a note saying they had reached partial verdicts but saw no chance of reaching a full verdict. The judge sent them back for more talks, but they sent him another note an hour or so later saying they remained “unable” to decide more.

In open court, before a crowd of spectators and reporters that spilled out of the courtroom and into the hall, Gilliam then asked each of the 12 whether a complete verdict was possible.

Three said no. One of the three, Dorothy Andre, 62, of San Diego, said, “I don’t think we’ll ever come to any kind of decision. Not this jury.”

Andre was the juror who last week wrote Gilliam a note asking to be replaced by one of the two alternate jurors, saying she never realized that “having to decide someone’s fate” could cause her “such worry, anxiety and concern.” The judge did not, however, order her off the panel.

The nine jurors who told Gilliam on Friday that they thought the panel might be able to reach a verdict appeared unconvinced that the group actually would reach unanimous agreement. “I feel it remains remote,” said foreman Russell S. Litchfield, 66, of El Cajon.

The Hunter case is believed to be the longest-running criminal trial in the history of the San Diego federal court. The trial began March 28.