Nov 11, 2009 6:47 am US/Eastern
Jury Seated In Mayor Dixon's Trial
BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) ―
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Mayor Sheila Dixon says she has no plans to give up leadership of the city -- even temporarily.
CBS
A jury has been seated in the corruption trial of Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Mary Bubala reports the jury was formally chosen around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The jury is made up of five African-American women, two African-American men, three white women, one white man and one Asian woman. Six alternates were also chosen for the trial. The jurors were chosen from a pool of 60 people.
Judge Dennis Sweeney told jurors not to post anything about the trial on their Facebook or Twitter pages, and to avoid discussing the trial, which is expected to take three weeks. The trial will break for Thanksgiving if necessary.
As the jurors were questioned, they were sitting very close to Dixon, answering questions about what they have heard about this trial. Jurors were asked to set aside their opinions about the mayor and determine her guilt or innocence solely on the basis of the evidence.
Attorneys and Sweeney spent about seven hours over two days questioning individual jurors. Dixon stood at the bench throughout the process.
"It's a fair selection of the city," said Dixon's attorney, Arnold Weiner.
Court will be in recess Wednesday for Veterans Day, which means opening statements will begin Thursday at 10 a.m. in courtroom 230.
The judge told the jurors it's a very important public service to be on this jury.
Dixon is keeping up with her duties and appearances. She spoke at the Citizens' Planning and Housing Association's 68th annual meeting Tuesday night.
She told reporters she was happy with the outcome of the jury selection and believes she will receive a fair trial. She said she will keep moving on with business and plans to attend a veterans' memorial event Wednesday for Veterans Day.
The allegations are ugly and the stakes are high. The state prosecutor claims Dixon stole gift cards meant for the needy and used them for herself. The mayor has called it a politically motivated waste of time and money, but if she's found guilty, her political career is done.
"It's really, really important--not just for this case, but for the citizens of Baltimore--for her to actually project calmness, for her to project confidence," said political analyst Lester Spence.
The mayor seemed to be in good spirits in court.
"At the end of the day, this trial is about Sheila Dixon and it will be won or lost because of her," said law professor Andrew Levy.
Dixon is facing two separate trials. One is for two counts of perjury, but on Monday, she was in court on charges she stole gift cards intended for the needy.
"I have done nothing wrong," Dixon said.
"I think it's very possible that jurors will come into this thinking that race was involved in choosing to go after the mayor and going after the mayor the way they did. It's my hope that they will judge the merit of the case," Spence said.
From the beginning, Mayor Dixon has strongly denied the allegations against her, including perjury, theft and misconduct.
The state prosecutor began the investigation back in 2006. In June 2008, investigators executed a search and seizure warrant at the mayor's house in Southwest Baltimore. A number of documents and other evidence were seized.
Several subpoenas were issued. The hammer came down last January when Dixon was indicted by a grand jury on several counts.
A turning point in the investigation came back in June, when prominent city developer--and the mayor's former boyfriend--Ronald Lipscomb admitted paying for lavish trips and gifts that she failed to report on ethics forms, while voting on tax breaks for his company. Lipscomb agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and will likely be a key witness.
The mayor could be in court as many as eight hours a day during the trial, but she says it will not have an impact on city government.
"Nothing can alienate a jury more quickly than if they become convinced the defendant isn't taking the case seriously," Levy said.
Dixon would be thrown out of office if convicted of any of the seven charges against her. She could also face jail time or a fine.
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here for more information and background on the case.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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