by MELODY SIMMONS

The city may have been thrown into confusion about whether Mayor Sheila Dixon would remain in office immediately following her conviction on a misdemeanor embezzlement charge, but the ever-steely Dixon brushed off those questions. Asked if she was heading home or to her office, shortly after the lunchtime verdict, the mayor said steadily, but through tears, that she would return to her work to prepare for an afternoon budget hearing.

“I’m going to City Hall,” she said, to the cheers of her supporters. “This city will continue to run,” she said. “We won’t miss a step.”

A 23-year-old juror, meanwhile, who only gave her name as Shawana, said the jury knew it was considering a big case that had potential to affect the entire city government.

“I personally believe if you do the crime, you pay the time,” said Shawana, who also said she voted for Dixon, and felt for her.

“It was kind of like giving somebody the death penalty because we had just took and put our hands on somebody’s life,” the juror said. “It was heartbreaking, but it was also a release.”

What about race? “Race did not play a part,” said Shawana, who was Juror Number Three.

Another juror, Elaine Pollack, 29, said there were “high tensions” inside the jury room. Of the process that took more than six days of deliberations, she said: “You base your facts on evidence and try to keep emotions aside.”

Dixon, 55, was convicted of spending $630 in gift cards, intended for needy children, for personal items for herself or others. The cards were purchased in December 2005 by wealthy local developer Patrick Turner at Dixon’s request, after the then-City Council president called him to buy them for “the children of Baltimore.” Dixon was acquitted of a felony theft charge and two other charges stemming from gift cards handed out during an annual Holly Trolley tour from City Hall.

The jury was hung on the question of whether Dixon committed embezzlement in the matter of the Holley Trolley cards. (Investigators found five of the Toys R US cards in a Victoria’s Secret bag in Dixon’s home months later, unspent. Dixon gave one of the cards to a wealthy lobbyist.) Juror Number Three, Shawana, the panel was split 9 to 3 on this count.

As the jury forewoman read the verdict and pronounced the word “Guilty” for Count 4, Mayor Sheila Dixon stood rigid as a statue, her eyes fixed stoically on Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. Her supporters and many staff members packed the courtroom for the verdict, and afterward stood stunned and silent, many crying.

Minutes after the verdict outside the courthouse, Dixon stood with tears in her eyes as her attorney, Arnold Weiner, said he was disappointed over the jury’s decision.

“We will be studying the effects of these decisions over the next few days,” Weiner said. “We will certainly file post-trial motions. All of this is being considered and evaluated.”

Legal issues continued to swirl long after the jury was dismissed. Weiner vowed to file post-trial motions and review the case for appeal.

Judge Sweeney said Dixon’s sentencing date would be set in the near future (the conviction carries a minimum one year and maximum five years in prison). Just when sentencing takes place, however, is a key question: it appears that Dixon may not be required to step down until sentencing.

Under the  City Charter, City Council President Stephanie Rawlings Blake would succeed Dixon and become acting mayor, until either the term is completed or Dixon wins an appeal.

The Dixon administration is clearly hoping that process is at least many days away. A couple of hours after the verdict Baltimore City Solicitor George Nilson issued this statement: “The jury’s verdict today does not impact the mayor’s responsibility to continue serving as mayor of the city of  Baltimore at this time. The mayor will continue to focus on the citizen’s concerns and the business of the city of Baltimore until this case comes to a legal conclusion.”

Meanwhile, prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh said he planned to study whether to re-file one theft charge that the jury couldn’t decide on (relating to the Holly Trolley tour). And a second trial against Dixon on perjury charges is set for March 1 in Circuit Court.

Speaking on the courthouse steps, after the verdict, Rohrbaugh said: “This is a sad day for Baltimore. But at least this jury had the courage to do the right thing. The message is there is nobody above the law.”