Jury seated in Dixon theft trial

A jury of nine women and three men will decide the guilt or innocence of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.

The jurors were seated Tuesday afternoon after a lengthy selection process in the criminal theft case. Six alternates were also seated.

Dixon's lead attorney, Arnold M. Weiner, said he's "satisfied with the jury" and looks forward to a fair trial. State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh declined to comment.

Opening statements could come as soon as Thursday morning.

Judge Dennis M. Sweeney and the lawyers in the case waded through about 140 potential jurors over the past two days before the final phase of selection. Prosecutors and defense attorneys were able to reject four jurors apiece without giving a reason.

"We have reached a number where we feel we have more than enough," Sweeney said this afternoon as he dismissed about two dozen jurors who had yet to be interviewed.

He instructed the group not to discuss a two-page questionnaire they had filled out for the case and told them he expects Dixon's trial to get under way Thursday. Courts are closed Wednesday for Veterans Day.

Dixon, 55, was an active participant in jury selection, standing with her attorneys as they and Sweeney interviewed prospective jurors at the bench. The jurors were chosen from among 60 city residents whom the judge decided were qualified to serve.

Dixon arrived for the second day of her trial before 8:30 a.m., entering Courthouse East downtown through the front door. When a reporter asked her how she slept last night, she replied, "Fine."

Dixon stood before a judge for the first time Monday, the beginning of a long day of jury selection. After the mayor's lawyers entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, much of the opening-day action was conducted out of the earshot of the courtroom audience. The Democratic mayor appeared confident as she walked through the front door of Courthouse East just after 9 a.m.

"I'm good," Dixon said to reporters. It was her first time in court; her defense team has handled proceedings on her behalf since her January indictment.



Sweeney, a retired Howard County judge specially appointed for a series of City Hall misspending cases, asked the mayor to stand to mark her initial appearance. Weiner helped Dixon, dressed in a dark suit with a fuchsia blouse, to her feet and said she was pleading not guilty to all seven theft-related counts.

Dixon spoke only briefly, saying, "Yes, Your Honor," to acknowledge that she had the right to accompany her lawyers during any bench conferences.

Throughout the day Monday, Dixon seemed completely absorbed in tasks relating to the trial and even during recesses did not appear to use her BlackBerry, which she checks routinely during City Hall meetings. The mayor occasionally scribbled in a notebook or whispered to Weiner. Her security detail sat in the rear of the courtroom.

She and her defense team analyzed juror questionnaires through an hour lunch break, though Dixon paused for 15 minutes when sandwiches were delivered from Stone Mill Bakery. The group set up an ad hoc picnic on a marble ledge just outside the courtroom until a sheriff allowed them to eat privately in the jury room.

Leaving the courtroom Monday evening, the mayor said only that the experience had been "interesting." For months, she has repeated the refrain that she is "staying focused" when asked about the trial.

Rohrbaugh, whose pursuit of City Hall corruption cases began in 2006, said nothing Monday that could be heard in open court. Prosecutors have charged that the mayor stole from the needy when, they say, she purchased items with retail gift cards that local developers donated to her office for charity events.

If convicted on any of the charges, she will have to step down as mayor and forfeit an $83,000 pension and could face a fine or jail time.

Some in the jury pool seemed aware of the stakes. Whispered one potential juror to another: "She could lose her job. And her pension," in an apparent reference to Dixon.