Defense says Balto. mayor did not misuse gift cards

BALTIMORE - Store receipts prove that Mayor Sheila Dixon used gift cards for the needy during personal shopping sprees, prosecutors said yesterday, though defense attorneys argued that they were intended for her use.

Prosecutors showed slides of the receipts to jurors in opening statements.

Defense attorneys said that Dixon's ex-boyfriend, developer Ronald Lipscomb, had anonymously given her gift cards for her to use as she pleased. Developer Patrick Turner also donated gift cards, and Dixon confused those with the cards given by Lipscomb, defense attorney Arnold Weiner said.

That means that there is no evidence that she intentionally stole gift cards meant for needy families - which prosecutors must prove to convict her, Weiner said.

"She never knew they came from him, she thought they were Mr. Lipscomb's," Weiner told jurors.

Dixon, who would automatically be removed from office if convicted, sat quietly, dressed in a dark suit during the proceedings, occasionally taking notes or highlighting documents with a pink marker.

Turner and Lipscomb have been identified as potential witnesses. Earlier yesterday, the judge ruled that prosecutors may not use evidence related to a third batch of gift cards. Prosecutors wanted a third developer, Glenn Charlow, to testify, but defense attorneys argued that evidence came too late for them to prepare.

State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh held gift cards and long receipts in his hand as he presented his opening statements, showing jurors slides of the receipts in the courtroom.