The question of whether Mayor Sheila Dixon will step down remained murky today, but the jurors’ decision to convict her on one count of misdemeanor embezzlement appears to be pretty straightforward.
What does their conviction mean they think happened? The two jurors who have spoken publicly said they were swayed by a couple of things.
One was a videotape of developer Patrick Turner’s testimony on the stand. They wanted to figure out if Turner did believe those gift cards were intended for poor children. They apparently concluded that he did. (Perhaps their confusion stemmed from the fact that he grew visibly anxious and switched to the passive voice during this crucial part of his testimony.)
The other evidence? Turner’s AT&T phone bill on Dec. 13, 2005, the day he bought the $1,000 worth of cards.
DEC. 13, 2005
* 11:04 a.m. — Turner calls Dixon on her BlackBerry
* 12:21 a.m. — Turner goes to Best Buy and buys $500 worth of cards ( 20 at $25-each)
* 1:01 p.m. — Turner goes to Target and buys $500 worth of cards (20 at $25 each.)
* 1:21 pm — Turner calls Dixon again.
Turner said on the stand he couldn’t remember when he got the envelope with the 40 gift cards to City Hall (without his name, just with herst.)
But just a few days later, on Dec. 18, 2005, Dixon was using those Turner giftcards to buy $525 of stuff, including a video camera, case and cassettes, which were found in her home. Prosecutors had receipts and other electronic records to back up their claim.
Dixon’s defense lawyers never contested any of these facts. They just argued that Dixon didn’t realize the cards were from Turner and presumed they were from her boyfriend, Ronald Lipscomb.
