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Our reporter Doug Donovan is sending updates from the coutroom throughout the corruption trial of Mayor Sheila Dixon.
4:00 p.m.
The jury had a question, requiring all sides to return to court at around 315 p.m.
At that time, Judge Sweeney told the lawyers that the jury wanted a transcript of testimony. The request was denied. The jury was instructed to rely on their notes and memories.
But the brief meeting provided some levity when defense attorney Arnold Weiner's cell phone went off, just minutes after the bailiff warned the courtroom audience that phones would be confiscated if they rang.
A bailiff playfully marched over to Weiner and took his phone. Sweeney laughed and told him to return it. "This is your one warning," Sweeney told him.
Even Dixon was laughing.
For summary's sake, here are the charges that Mayor Dixon's jury is debating:
Counts 1 and 4 deal with the gift cards from Turner.
1: Theft. She stole gift cards valued at more than $500 from Turner by deception, that she solicited and obtained the cards under the false pretense that they would be used by the council president's office to aid the needy families of Baltimore.
4: Fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. That she received the cards from Turner in her official capacity as council president but that she then used them for herself.
The jury can not find Dixon guilty of both charges. If she is found guilty of one she must be found not guilty of the other.
Counts 3 and 6 deal with gift cards from the city's housing authority.
3: Theft. That Dixon knowingly stole cards purchased by the housing authority and that were given to her to distribute to the needy.
6: Fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. As mayor she received the housing gift cards during the Holly Trolley tour for the purpose of giving them out to needy people, but she willfully used them for herself.
The jury can not find Dixon guilty of both charges. If she is found guilty of one she must be found not guilty of the other.
Count 7: Misconduct in office. That she abused her office by corruptly using the housing cards.
If Dixon is found not guilty of count 3 the jury must find her not guilty of this misconduct charge. If she is guilty of count 3 the jury must then decide whether she is guilty or not guilty of count seven.
