Judge denies Dixon mistrial motion 

Posted: 12:18 pm Wed, November 25, 2009
By Brendan Kearney
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

Visiting Judge Dennis M. Sweeney has denied Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon’s motion for a mistrial, as the jury continues well into their fifth day of deliberations on charges that Dixon stole or misused gift cards intended for Baltimore’s needy families.

After Sweeney denied the motion, he cleared the courtroom while attempting to respond to a jury note asking for transcripts of testimony from several witnesses. Sweeney said he needs time to determine whether the court has the “technological capabilities” to produce redacted versions of the audio and video testimony. He will also consider whether to allow the jurors to watch portions of the testimony in a closed courtroom, where only the jurors and parties involved are permitted and reporters are excluded.

In arguing his motion for a mistrial, defense lawyer Dale P. Kelberman called the jury’s job of parsing the five charges against Dixon, some of which are mutually exclusive with one another, an “impossible task,” saying that the jury was asked to play the rule of a “Talmudic scholar.” Kelberman also said that the impending Thanksgiving holiday placed an “inordinate pressure to return a verdict just to return a verdict,” creating a “coercive environment.”

Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh responded that the jury is doing “exactly what they were supposed to do” as part of the “give-and-take in the normal course of jury deliberation.”

Sweeney said “it would not be appropriate, without indication from the jury, to discontinue the admittedly lengthy deliberation process.”

As Kelberman presented his argument on the motion, the jurors passed a note asking to see the transcripts from the testimony of developer Pat Turner, city housing department employee Edward Anthony — Dixon’s current boyfriend — and Mary Pat Fannon, a former lobbyist for city government.

Kelberman called the timing of the jury note “exquisite.”

Sweeney said he needed to look into the logistics of redacting pieces of the testimony transcripts, including any references to developer Ronald Lipscomb, who was slotted to testify but never did. Sweeney threw out charges involving Lipscomb after the prosecution rested without his testimony.

Reporter Danny Jacobs contributed to this report.