"It's a legal stretch," Ravenell said, noting that the state prosecutor originally was pursuing bribery charges against Dixon.
Weiner was even more dismissive of allegations that Dixon stole gift cards intended for needy families.
According to the indictment, she used as much as $3,400 in gift cards to buy electronics and other items for herself and her staff. The indictment says she solicited the gift cards from two developers, including Lipscomb, saying they would be distributed in part to underprivileged children at the holidays.
The indictment's only allegation of misconduct after Dixon became mayor in January 2007 involves $25 Toys "R" Us gift cards.
She is accused of giving one to a staff member and of possessing five others that were discovered when state prosecutors raided her West Baltimore home in June. Weiner said the staffer had recently gone through a foreclosure, and he implied that Dixon might have inadvertently kept the others.
While that's a far smaller dollar amount than the alleged Lipscomb gifts, some said that allegation could be the most difficult to overcome at a trial.
Gray, the Maryland law professor, said the charges "play to people's emotions."
Brown, the defense attorney, said the alleged misuse could help prosecutors gain traction with a jury.
The defense team "is in jeopardy of losing good will for the mayor on that one," he said. "You don't steal from the poor. Everyone knows that's wrong."
Baltimore Sun reporter Stephen Kiehl contributed to this article.
