Jury convicts Dixon of one count

Posted: 12:51 pm Tue, December 1, 2009
By Brendan Kearney
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

UPDATED 1:50 p.m.  A jury has convicted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon of one count — misappropriating gift cards purchased by developer Patrick Turner that were meant for the city’s needy families – but acquitted her of more serious theft charges as well as misconduct in office.

After the verdict was read in Baltimore City Circuit Court, the mayor spoke from the steps in front of Courthouse East.

“The city will continue to run,” she said. Asked what she would be doing this afternoon, she said, “I’m going to City Hall.”

One of her lead attorneys, Arnold M. Weiner, said he would be filing post-trial motions.

The verdict came on the seventh day of deliberations in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

“ It’s a sad day for Baltimore but I think the jury did the right thing,” State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh said.

Jurors, who had asked twice in two days about the need for unanimity, sent a note to the judge shortly before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to indicate that they had reached a partial verdict.

Both sides agreed to accept it.

The jurors split on just one count, misappropriation of gift cards purchased by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City for the Holly Trolley charity event in 2007. Juror #3, a 23-year-old woman, said after the verdict that the vote was 9-3 to convict on that count.

Otherwise, the jury found Dixon not guilty on all counts, including two counts of theft and one of misconduct in office.

However, even one conviction is sufficient to cost the mayor her job.

Under the state constitution, any elected official convicted of a felony or misdemeanor related to his or her official duties shall be suspended from her duties by operation of law. However, according to a 1977 opinion by then-Attorney General Francis “Bill” Burch, a “conviction” refers to a final judgment of conviction, which occurs when a judge pronounces sentence.

While Opinions of the Attorney General are not binding, courts can rely on them as persuasive authority.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, as president of the City Council, will assume the mayoral duties once Dixon steps down. If Dixon ’s conviction is reversed before her term expires in 2012, she would be restored as mayor and get her money back, according to Burch’s interpretation of Article 15, Section 2.

Dixon also is facing perjury charges stemming from expensive gifts she received as City Council president from her then-boyfriend, developer Ronald H. Lipscomb, but did not report on her financial disclosure forms filed with the Baltimore City Ethics Board.

“At this point the trial is scheduled for March 1. I don’t see any reason why that would be postponed or abandoned,” Rohrbaugh said after Tuesday’s verdict.

The mayor’s lawyers sought to have the perjury charges dismissed, claiming they were based on inadmissible evidence, but Sweeney denied the motion. His ruling is on appeal, with trial in the underlying case scheduled for March.

In the theft and misappropriation cases, Dixon was accused of obtaining gift cards to big box stores and using them for herself, rather than passing them along to needy children. The cards at issue were given to her by Turner, or purchased by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City for use on the Holly Trolley, a goodwill initiative designed to spread cheer in low-income neighborhoods during the holiday season.

Sweeney dismissed similar counts involving gift cards from Lipscomb after the state chose not to call him as a witness. Evidence regarding those counts also was thrown out. And the jury never heard about a third developer’s donated gift cards because prosecutors disclosed that “other bad acts” evidence too late — just the week before trial.

The mayor did not deny using the gift cards, but said the ones from Lipscomb were personal gifts to her; and she said she mistook the Best Buy and Target cards from Turner, which came in a plain envelope marked only with her name, for those from Lipscomb. Of the Holly Trolley cards, her lawyers conceded she mistakenly gave one to a wealthy staff member but noted that she had not spent the five Toys “R” Us cards found in her house.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon concerning the verdict.

“This is a sad day for the people of Baltimore and Mayor Dixon personally,” O’Malley said. “It is more important than ever, during this difficult time, that everyone who cares about Baltimore stays focused on reducing crime in our neighborhoods, improving our schools, creating jobs and otherwise serving the people who live and work in Baltimore.”

Daily Record writers Danny Jacobs, Steve Lash and Robbie Whelan contributed to this article.