Alleged Co-Conspirators Could Join Hedgecock in Retrial

Mayor Roger Hedgecock may attempt to delay his second trial on felony conspiracy and perjury charges until July, a prospect that could lead to his trial being combined with that of his three alleged co-conspirators, Hedgecock’s attorney said Thursday.

Michael Pancer said he has told the mayor that his obligations to other clients require that he not work further on the Hedgecock case until the summer. Pancer said it will be up to Hedgecock to decide whether to seek a delay or find another lawyer to handle the case.

That decision would be made during a four-week delay Pancer said he will request in Superior Court this morning.

Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller said Thursday that he wanted to combine the mayor’s second trial with that of Tom Shepard, Nancy Hoover and J. David (Jerry) Dominelli. All four defendants are accused of conspiring to funnel tens of thousands of dollars into Hedgecock’s 1983 campaign for mayor.

“They really should have been tried together in the first place,” Miller said.

The cases were separated in October when Hedgecock waived his right to a preliminary hearing, saying he wanted to get his trial under way before the Nov. 6 mayoral election. Shepard, Hoover and Dominelli kept their right to a preliminary hearing and have since won several delays that have kept their trials from beginning.

Prosecutors have said since the four were indicted Sept. 19 that they would prefer to try all the defendants together. It is generally believed in legal circles that it is easier to convince a jury that a conspiracy existed when all of the accused conspirators are present.

Pancer, speaking at a late-afternoon press conference, said he did not intend to oppose any move by the prosecution to reunite the four defendants.

“At this time, I have no desire keep them separate,” Pancer said.

Shepard, who was the mayor’s political consultant for his 1983 campaign, and Hoover and Dominelli, Hedgecock supporters who were principals in the bankrupt J. David & Co. investment firm, are scheduled for a preliminary hearing March 4 in Municipal Court. That date might be pushed back by complications surrounding the fitness for trial of Dominelli, who has suffered a stroke, and questions about the readiness of his attorneys, who were appointed to represent him only last week.

Whether the four defendants are tried together or not, prosecutors say they believe they have a stronger case against Shepard, Hoover and Dominelli than they presented against Hedgecock.

“I think our case gets stronger as time goes on,” Miller said. “We find new things.”

S. Charles Wickersham, the deputy district attorney who has been tabbed by Miller to prosecute the case against Hedgecock’s three co-defendants, said he believes the 11-1 vote for conviction by the Hedgecock jury is an ominous message for the others who will stand trial.

“It means that the evidence has been reviewed now in a hard-fought trial and 11 out of 12 jurors were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Hedgecock is guilty,” Wickersham said. “Certainly, that has got to be pretty persuasive with the other three people.”

Wickersham added that the three co-defendants will not have the advantage--real or imagined--of holding a prominent public office.

“They’re not going to have that going for them,” he said.

The case against Shepard, Hoover and Dominelli, or against all four defendants if they are tried together, is likely to focus more on the path the alleged illegal contributions took from Dominelli to Hedgecock’s campaign, Wickersham said.

“The money from J. David and the operation of Tom Shepard and Associates will receive more emphasis,” Wickersham said in an interview before Hedgecock’s trial ended in a hung jury. “It’s not that they should have received less emphasis in the Hedgecock trial, it’s just that there are so many other things to introduce. All of those things took time and detracted from the money flow.”

Wickersham noted that prosecutors were not aware of the existence of a December, 1981, check for $3,000 from Dominelli to Hedgecock until they had already mapped much of their courtroom strategy. That piece of evidence might be stressed more in the trials still to come, he said.

“That $3,000 check, it’s a little thing, but it’s a big thing,” he said. “Here is the direct linkage between J. David Dominelli at one end of the conspiracy and Roger Hedgecock at the other end. And it’s a linkage at the very beginning.”

Attorneys for Shepard and Hoover did not return several telephone calls to them Thursday. Dominelli’s attorneys are on vacation this week.