A jury convicted Mayor Sheila Dixon on Tuesday on one count of embezzlement for stealing gift cards meant for poor residents, but it acquitted her of three other charges, including the most serious felony theft charge.
Ms. Dixon, whose conviction may force her from office, faced five theft-related charges, and the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision concerning one of them, prompting the state prosecutor to say he was undecided on whether to refile that charge.
"The city will still continue to move forward," Ms. Dixon said as she left the courtroom, adding that she was headed to City Hall to get back to work.
"The city will still continue to move forward," Ms. Dixon said as she left the courtroom, adding that she was headed to City Hall to get back to work. Under state law, Ms. Dixon is supposed to be suspended from office after sentencing. But her lawyers have said they plan to file post-trial motions and possibly appeal the verdict.
But the split verdict leaves a cloud of uncertainty looming over the administration of Ms. Dixon, who took office in January 2007 as Baltimore's first female mayor.
She still faces a trial in March on two perjury counts stemming from an accusation that she failed to report gifts.
Under state law, Ms. Dixon is supposed to be suspended from office after sentencing. But before that happens, her lawyers have said they plan to file post-trial motions and possibly appeal the verdict. If those efforts fail, Ms. Dixon will probably be forced from office and the City Council president, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, would succeed her.
The misdemeanor charge carries a minimum sentence of a year, but it is not clear if the prosecutor will seek jail time. Even then, the judge could suspend that sentence in lieu of probationary conditions.
"It's a sad day for Baltimore," Robert A. Rohrbaugh, the state prosecutor, said before commending the jury for its work. .
Ms. Dixon initially faced seven charges of theft, misappropriation of fiduciary duty and misconduct in office. Prosecutors said that she stole around $1,500 worth of gift cards meant for needy families and that were donated by developers, including Ronald H. Lipscomb, whom Ms. Dixon dated in 2003 and 2004. Ms. Dixon was accused of using the cards to buy herself items at Target, Toys "R" Us, Old Navy and Best Buy -- including, according to court documents, a PlayStation 2, a digital camcorder, DVDs and CDs.
The defense portrayed Ms. Dixon as an honest and hard-working woman of faith who made a simple mistake in using gift cards she believed had been given to her as anonymous personal gifts.
The defense portrayed Ms. Dixon as an honest and hard-working woman of faith who made a simple mistake in using gift cards she believed had been given to her as anonymous personal gifts.
Throughout the trial, public reaction has tended toward two extremes. On the one hand, Baltimore residents voiced a sense of outrage that the mayor would steal from children and the needy. On the other hand, some residents expressed frustration that the prosecutor's office was wasting time and money on minor offenses.
Some residents viewed the trial as politically or racially motivated. Ms. Dixon, who is black and was born and raised in West Baltimore, is a Democrat who leads a majority-black, deeply Democratic city. Mr. Rohrbaugh is a white Republican.
On the trial's second day, prosecutors rested their case without calling their key witness, Mr. Lipscomb, to the stand. As a result, Judge Dennis M. Sweeney of Circuit Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to proceed with two of the theft-related charges.
As theater, the case was a letdown. By failing to call the mayor's former boyfriend to the stand, prosecutors deprived the news media and the courtroom audience of the spectacle of ex-lovers turning on each other.
Still, the trial had its moments. Arnold M. Weiner, a defense lawyer, drew applause during closing arguments as he mocked the state's case as a thin web of reckless fabrications and little more than a "sound and light show."
It was not contested, for example, that Ms. Dixon called a developer and asked him to donate gift cards for her to give to city children -- cards that the mayor later used for her personal benefit. It was also not contested that Ms. Dixon gave one of the donated cards to Mary Pat Fannon, a lobbyist for the city whose household income tops $500,000 or that another city official took a donated card meant for needy families and used it to buy himself a Nintendo Wii.
The case painted an unflattering picture of how gifts and charity are handled by city leaders.
It was not contested, for example, that Ms. Dixon called a developer and asked him to donate gift cards for her to give to city children -- cards that the mayor later used for her personal benefit. It was also not contested that Ms. Dixon gave one of the donated cards to Mary Pat Fannon, a lobbyist for the city whose household income tops $500,000 or that another city official took a donated card meant for needy families and used it to buy himself a Nintendo Wii.
"True, this trial hasn't been Sheila Dixon's finest hour, but neither did it reveal rampant venality," said Andrew D. Levy, a law professor at the University of Maryland. "Mostly, it displayed a tone deafness to ethical issues -- such as the cozy relationship between developers and local politicians -- that most people have become pretty inured to."
At times, Judge Sweeney seemed unconvinced by Ms. Dixon's lawyers, who argued that she accidentally spent the gift cards given to her because she believed they were all meant as personal gifts.
"Your theory is, gift cards are just flowing in," Judge Sweeney said in declining to grant a defense motion to throw out the entire case. "There are so many flowing in? They are just swimming in gift cards?
"There are not enough poor children to give them to?" Judge Sweeney later said.
Shelly S. Glenn, the senior assistant state prosecutor, tried to reinforce this skepticism among jurors. Pointing at Ms. Dixon across the courtroom during closing arguments, Ms. Glenn said, "This woman did not get this far in life if she could be so easily confused."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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With a 7/5 demographic jury mix, I'm shocked that they convicted her on anything in Baltimore.
#2
true.... that means in any other town she'd have 20 convictions
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2009 6:48 Comments ||
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#3
I can see the campaign slogan now:
Mayor Sheila Dixon: a politician with real convictions!
Posted by: Mike ||
12/02/2009 8:08 Comments ||
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#4
Baltimore has a long history as a city of pirates and thieves, the Brits knew this before and during the revolutionary war,the Locals were and probably still are proud of their reputation, I dont see why anything would change in a scant 200+ years.
#5
"It's a sad day for Baltimore," Robert A. Rohrbaugh, the state prosecutor, said before commending the jury for its work.
Ima thinkin' not exactly. The sad day(s) were when this scum-of-pond began ripping off the gift cards. The day of conviction was really a good day, right?
#6
Where there is smoke there is fire. I am for zero tolerance for misappropriators of public property. Investment in Baltimore industry was reduced to near zero in the 'seventies, because voters insisted on electing swine with their hands out. That can happen again.
An African-American is beaten up at a political rally by thugs shouting racial epithets, and after three months his assailants are charged with the moral equivalent of jaywalking. Why wasn't it a hate crime?
The beating of Kenneth Gladney by people wearing the purple shirts of the Service Employees International Union outside a Missouri health care town hall meeting three months ago met all the classic definitions of a hate crime. Time was, the beating of a black man outside a protest rally, and the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators, would be headline news.
Gladney was working as a vendor outside an Aug. 6 town hall forum called by Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., at Bernard Middle School in Mehlville, Mo., when he was punched in the face by someone in a group of people wearing purple T-shirts.
It was a summer of tea parties and growing town hall protests of administration plans to nationalize health care. Gladney thought he could make a few bucks selling flags saying "Don't Tread On Me," a flag from America's war of independence.
As Gladney recounted the incident on biggovernment.com, a person shouted: "What kind of (N-word) are you?!" Then, "he grabbed my board, so I quickly grabbed it back, then the man punched me in the face and charged at me. I put my hands up to block the second blow from the large man, when two other people from that group grabbed me and threw me to the ground and started punching and kicking me. I was kicked in the head and in the back, legs and buttocks. Then a white woman ran up to me while I was on the ground and began kicking me in my head as well. A few people came to my rescue, for which I am forever grateful."
According to Harris Himes, who also attended that town hall and calls himself an eyewitness to the attack, they were "union thugs" whose shirts read "Organizing for America" on the back and "SEIU" on the front. A video of the assault has been widely viewed.
Finally, after three months of curious delay, charges have been filed against six individuals in the incident.
The charges were announced the day before Thanksgiving, so nobody would notice. The national media weren't paying attention, and neither were the ACLU, civil rights groups or the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Gladney was the wrong kind of victim.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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And it looks like they are going to continue 'doing the work the mainstream media refuses to do'. Tracing the relationship between the SEIU Thugs, and the two brownshirt organizations 'Healthcare for America Now (HCAN)' and 'Organizing for America'. Including their marching orders which came right from the Obama administration.
Showing the relationships between the people who did the physical beating all the way to the Administration in a way that, well, even a 'Journalist' can understand.
The number of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats fell by nearly two percentage points in November. Added to declines earlier in the year, the number of Democrats in the nation has fallen by five percentage points during 2009.
In November, 36.0% of American adults said they were Democrats. That's down from 37.8% a month ago and the lowest number of Democrats since December 2005. See the History of Party Trends from January 2004 to the present.
The number of Republicans inched up by just over a point in November to 33.1%. That's within the narrow range that Republicans have experienced throughout 2009 - from a low of 31.9% to a high of 33.6%.
The number of adults not affiliated with either party grew half a point last month to 30.8%.
Despite the changes, there are still more Democrats than Republicans in the nation. But the gap is down to 2.9 percentage points, the smallest since December 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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If I were a DemocRat (which thank goodness I am NOT), I'd be embarrassed to admit it, too.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/02/2009 12:29 Comments ||
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One question that doesn't get asked is whether the "independents" are liberal, moderate (fiscal or social) or conservative. I think that could be very enlightening.
#6
If I were a DemocRat (which thank goodness I am NOT), I'd be embarrassed to admit it, too.
Here in SoCal, I remember seeing quite a large number of Obama campaign lawn-signs and bumper stickers magically appear in the days after the election. We nicknamed them "Wood-work Democrats"
So it's not really surprising the numbers are dropping now.
(CNSNews.com) - As President Barack Obama prepares to travel to a global climate summit next week in Copenhagen, the White House is dismissing the "climategate" controversy that has arisen over the leak of email communications between top climate-change scientists that some skeptics say cast doubt on the legitimacy of the science behind the theory that human activity is causing global warming.
Obama will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference on Dec. 9. The conference in Copenhagen comes soon after the emails released by a computer hacker has led one Republican U.S. senator to call for an investigtation.
Some global warming skeptics have referred to the e-mails--from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit in England--as "climategate."
But White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed the controversy on Monday, saying that most people don't dispute global warming.
"In the order of several thousand scientists have come to the conclusion that climate change is happening," Gibbs said. "I don't think that any of that is, quite frankly among most people, in dispute."
Leading global-warming skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, wants an investigation into the content of the e-mails. He has asked all government agencies to retain e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit.
"It appears that, in an attempt to conceal the manipulation of climate data, information disclosure laws may have been violated," Inhofe said in a statement last week. "I certainly don't condone the manner in which these emails were released; however, now that they are in the public domain, lawmakers have an obligation to determine the extent to which the so-called 'consensus' of global warming, formed with billions of taxpayer dollars, was contrived in the biased minds of the world's leading climate scientists."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. The believers are so close they are just hoping to brass it out and do what they want to do before the chance passes. Too bad this stuff wasn't leaked a year ago.
Clinton never sent it to the Senate for ratification. The Senate sent him a message, Byrd-Hagel Resolution, passed 95-0, not to even bother. [It's dead Jim]
#8
But White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed the controversy on Monday, saying that most people don't dispute global warming.
"In the order of several thousand scientists have come to the conclusion that climate change is happening," Gibbs said. "I don't think that any of that is, quite frankly among most people, in dispute."
Well now which is it? What the hell does climate change mean anyway? Glaciers caused the high plains, but there are no glaciers there any more... should I worry about that?
Someone please tell me what the ideal average temperature of the Earth ought to be anyway. Or how much rainfall we ought to get.
#9
Climate change IS happening. Always has happened. Always will happen. Climate is nothing but long-term weather, right? And as the saying goes in a lot of places "Don't like the weather? Wait a few minutes and it'll change."
#13
I seem to remember a law passed by Congress that rules and regulations had to be based on "hard science". Now we see that the "science" of anthropogenic climate change is a mixture of hype and huxterism, with virtually NO real science. The EPA and the White House should read the NIPCC report, and the fact that 31,000 scientists, including more than 9000 PhDs, signed a letter to Congress repudiating "AGW". Someone needs to whap Gibbs upside the head with a cluebat. Probably wouldn't hurt to use the same one on "president" Obumble.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/02/2009 21:10 Comments ||
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'Most people' will still consider Pluto a planet, even though it is approximately a fifth the mass of the Earth's Moon and a third its volume, not based on cold science, but on cultural habit.
White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers is coming under fire in the media and from some prior East Wing officials for not posting aides at gates used by the recent State Dinner guests to make sure no party crashers could enter. One former East Wing veteran of the Bush and Clinton years even suggested that Rogers might have to step aside and allow the first family to bring in a social office veteran to handle the escalating affair during which two uninvited guests, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, snuck past Secret Service agents.
On the Today Show, the Salahis said that they were invited, were working with Secret Service investigators, and didn't violate any rule or law to gain entry to the presidential State Dinner reception two days before Thanksgiving.
Several former officials said that it has long been standard practice for social officers to first check names of party guests before moving to Secret Service agents. Even at White House Christmas parties, that has been the protocol. This time, however, only Secret Service agents checked names.
Besides former White House officials criticizing her, some in the media have weighed in on Rogers. National Public Radio blogger Frank James took his shot today. "All the embarrassment to the Obama White House could have been avoided if Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, a close friend of the president and first lady, had followed the past practice of posting representatives from her office at the entry point. (With that last line, I may have ensured that I will never be on the invite list for a White House event but then I wasn't going to be on it anyway)," he wrote.
Still, it is highly unlikely that Rogers will be punished or asked to step aside, though she is among those expected to testify before a committee probing the State Dinner crashing on Thursday. The White House yesterday said that the blame is not on the Social Office or Rogers.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Party Crashers had five-year relationship with Obama before state dinner.Note also the Salahi connection to The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFO).
Two-thirds of registered voters who responded to a recent survey say the federal stimulus packages has not resulted in the improvement of the Western Illinois economy
The poll, commissioned by QuincyNews.org, was conducted by We Ask America on November 22 between 4:30 PM -- 6:30. In all, 15,000 random residential phone numbers of registered voters in the 17th Congressional District were dialed, resulting in 1,278 people taking the poll. The numbers dialed were randomly selected.
The results have a margin of error of ± 2.74 %.
Of those who responded, 66.7 % say the stimulus package hasn't improved the economy. Just under 22 percent said there had been an improvement while 11.5 percent were not sure.
The poll also showed a skepticism toward health care reform and also a dissatisfaction with the incumbent 17th District congressman, Democrat Phil Hare of Rock Island.
Pollster Gregg Durham said the data tells him a 'throw the bums out' mentality is emerging for 2010.
"This is happening in the rest of the country," Durham said. "It's a little stronger in Illinois...this dissatisfaction with politicians with one governor in prison and the last one impeached and in legal trouble. The meter is being pegged in this state."
"What is very telling is the independents are very strongly against the incumbent. There is a tendency to look for something else. There is a dissatisfaction with an incumbent.
"While even the democrats said they really don't see the impact of stimulus spending, the real surprise is that the independents broke most closely to the Republican view points," said Gregg Durham, who conducted the poll."There's some programs that we call eyerollers. Health care reform is one of them."
"The pendulum swings both ways. When you combine the major economic woes, plus the emotionally charged programs that are being discussed...health care, cap and trade, card check...there is a hastening of that pendulum swing and party affiliation doesn't matter. "
Durham said the frustration is mounting.
"People are becoming weary," he said. "They are holding their hands up and asking how we're going to pay for this, couple that with a bad economy and not enough jobs you have the potential for a quantum shift. "
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Quantum indicates two states, with no in-between. Hardly an accurate assessment.
#2
The sad result of government influence now has caused long term job losses. The jobs are not coming back for allot of reasons. The old days are gone when you could work and retire with one company. The only area where this isn't true is working in government because they are so far behind the times. The future will be something like this; you work part time then you get cut. Then collect unemployment till your next gig. Computer related work will be outsourced. Large corporations will be forced down this path first. Small business will go it alone. So where is the money to purchase anything. Dribs and drabs.
A fleeting few moments with a former vice president now goes for $1,209.
"Meet Al Gore in Copenhagen."
An official announcement from this fair Danish city says all: The former vice president is getting star treatment when he arrives with an entire swarm of green-minded gadflies for the United Nation's week-long global warming extravaganza that begins Dec. 7.
"Have you ever shaken hands with an American vice president? If not, now is your chance. Meet Al Gore in Copenhagen during the UN Climate Change Conference," notes the Danish tourism commission, which is helping Mr. Gore promote "Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis," his newest book about global warming in all its alarming modalities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2009 00:00 ||
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It helps if you take a private jet.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/02/2009 1:35 Comments ||
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wash your hand afterward
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2009 7:25 Comments ||
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SUckers. I got to contribute to Al's phantom car company, the one that's supposed to be built someday, (maybe) in Finland, for a paltry $2*
*my share of the $529m sweetheart deal between DOE and Al's Finnish electric car startup
'Cuz I'd probably get arrested for slapping the sh*t out of him.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/02/2009 12:23 Comments ||
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The former vice president is getting star treatment when he arrives with an entire swarm of green-minded gadflies for the United Nation's week-long global warming extravaganza
Entire swarm of green-minded gadflies... global warming extravaganza.
Global warming is a hoax extravaganzant proportions. "Swarm of green-minded gadflies" is a nice use of English words--very descriptive. Turd flies or bottle flies might be crude but also descriptive.
#7
Too bad it's in Copenhagen. If it were in Brussels, one neutron weapon could put an end to two useless entities - the EU "government" and the UN IPCC. I wouldn't hesitate to bomb Brussels, but Copenhagen is a beautiful place.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/02/2009 21:00 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A jury convicted Mayor Sheila Dixon on Tuesday on one count of embezzlement for stealing gift cards meant for poor residents, but it acquitted her of three other charges, including the most serious felony theft charge. 
An African-American is beaten up at a political rally by thugs shouting racial epithets, and after three months his assailants are charged with the moral equivalent of jaywalking. Why wasn't it a hate crime?
The number of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats fell by nearly two percentage points in November. Added to declines earlier in the year, the number of Democrats in the nation has fallen by five percentage points during 2009. 
(CNSNews.com) - As President Barack Obama prepares to travel to a global climate summit next week in Copenhagen, the White House is dismissing the "climategate" controversy that has arisen over the leak of email communications between top climate-change scientists that some skeptics say cast doubt on the legitimacy of the science behind the theory that human activity is causing global warming.
A fleeting few moments with a former vice president now goes for $1,209. 
