By Annie Linskey and Julie Bykowicz and , annie.linskey@baltsun.com and julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com|January 12, 2009
Hours after Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted on charges of theft, perjury and misuse of office, she headed to the industrial-chic offices of her lead defense attorney, where dozens of reporters and photographers had gathered.
Instead of perfunctory statements of innocence and a caution to wait for a trial, the public heard a full-throated response to the unseemly allegations that have swirled around Dixon as a nearly three-year probe of City Hall corruption plodded along.
The star was not Dixon, who read a short statement, but her lawyer: Arnold M. Weiner, veteran defender of indicted politicians, including former Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel.
Weiner roared for more than half an hour, calling the prosecution's case "ludicrous" and the indictment "puffery." Two local TV stations carried the news conference live as he described State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh as "relentlessly pursuing" the mayor and taking taxpayers on a long and expensive journey that was "nothing but a big circle."
It seemed all of Baltimore was watching.
Some said the display carried risks of overly politicizing a complex and sensitive case and tainting the Baltimore jury pool that would hear Dixon's case, should it go to trial.
But a vigorous attack against the opposition, others noted, comes right from the Weiner playbook.
"He is, and always has been, very good at leveling the playing field," said Steven A. Allen, a longtime white-collar defense attorney and former Weiner partner.
In an interview yesterday in the same Clipper Mill office that hosted the unusual televised event, Weiner was unapologetic. He said that as negative items dribbled out of the investigation, the time had come for a strong push-back.
"It seemed to me, in her position as a leading public official, she needed to have a statement made on her behalf that put those charges in their proper perspective," Weiner said.
That perspective included a concerted effort to undermine not just the evidence against Dixon, charged with theft and perjury related to gifts from a one-time boyfriend and developer who has received city tax breaks, but an assault on the prosecutor himself.
"What Arnold is saying - and I'll add that he is very effective at this strategy, which I've seen him use before - is, 'Don't accept everything at face value. Something is wrong with the prosecutor's case, and you should be suspicious of the evidence,' " said Allen, who watched the Friday news conference and said he had a "good feel" for how Weiner develops cases.
