E-mail
Print
Mayor Sheila Dixon is spending her day poring over hundreds of jury questionnaires as she and her attorneys select the 12 citizens to sit for her theft trial.
In her first trip to court since being indicted in January, the mayor walked through the front door of Courthouse East in downtown Baltimore just after 9 a.m. Until now, her defense team has handled proceedings on her behalf.
Dixon, 55, is accused of buying personal items with retail gift cards that local developers donated to her office for needy families. The mayor, a Democrat, also faces a separate trial next year on perjury charges. In that case, prosecutors say she failed to disclose gifts from her then-boyfriend Ronald H. Lipscomb, a developer who does business with the city. At the time, Dixon was City Council president. Lipscomb is expected to testify in both trials.
Judge Dennis M. Sweeney, a retired Howard County judge who was specially appointed for the City Hall misspending cases, asked the mayor to stand to mark her initial appearance. Attorney Arnold M. Weiner helped Dixon, dressed in a dark suit, to her feet and said she is pleading not guilty to all seven theft-related counts and that she demands a jury trial.
Dixon spoke only briefly, to acknowledge that she has the right to come up to the bench during any bench conferences.
Sweeney then recessed the proceeding so that he and the lawyers can review the jury questionnaires. The courthouse clerk summoned 999 Baltimore citizens for jury duty today, the maximum number allowed, and predicted about half would show up.
Shortly before 2 p.m., about 140 potential jurors filed into the courtroom.
Sweeney asked the jurors a series of questions about whether they could be impartial. Twenty-one people indicated they had already formed opinions of Dixon's guilt or innocence that could not be swayed by the evidence presented at trial. The same number said they had either been a victim of theft or had been charged with theft.
The remaining jury candidates were questioned by Sweeney, prosecutors and defense attorneys. Those discussions, which took place at the bench, out of earshot of the public, were expected to last for the remainder of the day.
The Dixon case has drained the jury pool today, Baltimore court officials said.
"As you may know," Judge Wanda K. Heard explained to one defendant whose case she postponed, "there's another case that's taken basically all the jurors today."
This morning, prospective jurors received a two-page survey and a list of potential witnesses that is designed to give state prosecutors and the defense attorneys a first glimpse at potential jurors. Copies of the list and blank questionnaire will not be made public until after the Dixon jury is seated, Sweeney said.
In addition to 12 jurors, Sweeney expects to seat at least four alternates in the high-profile case. The judge can dismiss anyone whom he believes to be biased. Defense attorneys and prosecutors also can each reject four people without giving a reason.
Prospective jurors will be corralled into the ceremonial courtroom of Courthouse East in large groups for further questioning this afternoon. Sweeney said those who are not dismissed today would report back to the courtroom at 1 p.m. tomorrow for further questioning.
Sun reporters Annie Linskey and Tricia Bishop and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
In her first trip to court since being indicted in January, the mayor walked through the front door of Courthouse East in downtown Baltimore just after 9 a.m. Until now, her defense team has handled proceedings on her behalf.
Dixon, 55, is accused of buying personal items with retail gift cards that local developers donated to her office for needy families. The mayor, a Democrat, also faces a separate trial next year on perjury charges. In that case, prosecutors say she failed to disclose gifts from her then-boyfriend Ronald H. Lipscomb, a developer who does business with the city. At the time, Dixon was City Council president. Lipscomb is expected to testify in both trials.
Judge Dennis M. Sweeney, a retired Howard County judge who was specially appointed for the City Hall misspending cases, asked the mayor to stand to mark her initial appearance. Attorney Arnold M. Weiner helped Dixon, dressed in a dark suit, to her feet and said she is pleading not guilty to all seven theft-related counts and that she demands a jury trial.
Dixon spoke only briefly, to acknowledge that she has the right to come up to the bench during any bench conferences.
Sweeney then recessed the proceeding so that he and the lawyers can review the jury questionnaires. The courthouse clerk summoned 999 Baltimore citizens for jury duty today, the maximum number allowed, and predicted about half would show up.
Shortly before 2 p.m., about 140 potential jurors filed into the courtroom.
Sweeney asked the jurors a series of questions about whether they could be impartial. Twenty-one people indicated they had already formed opinions of Dixon's guilt or innocence that could not be swayed by the evidence presented at trial. The same number said they had either been a victim of theft or had been charged with theft.
The remaining jury candidates were questioned by Sweeney, prosecutors and defense attorneys. Those discussions, which took place at the bench, out of earshot of the public, were expected to last for the remainder of the day.
The Dixon case has drained the jury pool today, Baltimore court officials said.
"As you may know," Judge Wanda K. Heard explained to one defendant whose case she postponed, "there's another case that's taken basically all the jurors today."
This morning, prospective jurors received a two-page survey and a list of potential witnesses that is designed to give state prosecutors and the defense attorneys a first glimpse at potential jurors. Copies of the list and blank questionnaire will not be made public until after the Dixon jury is seated, Sweeney said.
In addition to 12 jurors, Sweeney expects to seat at least four alternates in the high-profile case. The judge can dismiss anyone whom he believes to be biased. Defense attorneys and prosecutors also can each reject four people without giving a reason.
Prospective jurors will be corralled into the ceremonial courtroom of Courthouse East in large groups for further questioning this afternoon. Sweeney said those who are not dismissed today would report back to the courtroom at 1 p.m. tomorrow for further questioning.
Sun reporters Annie Linskey and Tricia Bishop and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Her and Kwami Kilpatrick (former Detroit mayor), must be a part of a new Mayors Conference entitled..."How Laws do not apply to US"
crwmdp (11/10/2009, 3:20 AM )