by MELODY SIMMONS
     Minutes after arriving through the back door of Mitchell Courthouse East this morning, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon entered courtroom No. 234 in a black suit and pumps, armed with a cup of joe and cashmere pashmina wrap.

     The confident stride of the city’s CEO raised hopes that she may take the stand in her own defense once the jury returned shortly after 9 a.m. to resume Dixon’s trial of theft charges.

     But it was not to be.

     Twenty minutes – and just four witnesses, sans Dixon – into the defense’s case, lead attorney Arnold Weiner announced without gusto: “The defense rests.”

     And so it goes. The dramatic trial enters its sixth day tomorrow with closing arguments slated for 9 a.m., followed by deliberations and, eventually, a verdict.

     The mayor’s defense consisted of three friends who testified she was an honest woman and had a strong character. There was also a florist from northeast Baltimore who delivered an elaborate $285 bouquet to City Hall on Jan. 30, 2004 from developer Ronald Lipscomb, the mayor’s former boyfriend who cut a deal with prosecutors to testify, but was never called to the stand.

     The card was signed “Anonymous,” testified Michael Koletar, owner of The Flower Cart.

     Another witness, Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of the influential Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Druid Hill Avenue, said he first met Dixon in 1978 through a mutual friend in Cambridge, Mass.

     “In my dealings with her, she’s always been honest and forthright,” said Reid, who described himself as dixon’s “spiritual advisor.”

     There was no cross examination by prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh.   After the jury was dismissed before 10 a.m. Dixon chatted with reporters and said it was difficult for her to remain silent. On his way out of the courthouse, walking in the center of a crush of reporters and cameras, Weiner pledged to elaborate on his strategy to stifle the mayor “tomorrow.”

     Two hours after Reid took the stand in the mayor’s defense, he was a guest at a Dixon-sponsored speaker’s series at City Hall titled “Just for Men: A Celebration of Thanksgiving.” Reid, dressed in a grey pinstripe suit, spoke on a panel about “Men in Faith” alongside Monsignor Damien Nalepa, of St. Gregory the Great Church, and Bishop Eugene Sutton, of the Maryland Episcopal Diocese.

     In a press release, Dixon said: “The men featured in this series are role models for giving back to our community. This series is just a small token of our appreciation for all that they do.”