Mayor Sheila Dixon's chief of staff and a commissioner on the Baltimore liquor board have accused each other of assault after an argument this month on an Inner Harbor cruise ship.
The commissioner, Elizabeth C. Smith, also accused Demaune A. Millard of punching her in April 2008, while they were dating.
"I understand that there have been charges of domestic abuse filed," Dixon said in an e-mail statement. "I am deeply concerned about any accusations about domestic violence. Domestic abuse by any city employee will not be tolerated."
Millard, 36, who was appointed by Dixon to his $106,100-a-year post in July 2007, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Scott Peterson, a spokesman for the mayor, said an attorney for the city called a meeting after the charges were filed. Peterson declined to provide details of the meeting, called by Assistant City Solicitor Donald Huskey, saying the nature of it is confidential. City officials made no effort to persuade Smith to drop the charges, he said.
Smith, 32, also works for the city's housing department, though Peterson would not say in what capacity, and has run unsuccessfully for City Council. She was appointed by Dixon in early 2007 to serve a partial term on the Baltimore Commission for Women.
Smith declined to comment and directed calls to her attorney, Anthony I. Butler. In a statement, he called the accusations "deeply personal." Butler said there is "no evidence or indication that the mayor has involved herself in this situation."
Smith filed two charges of second-degree assault against Millard with a Baltimore District Court commissioner June 7, and Millard filed one second-degree assault charge against Smith the next day.
Criminal summonses were issued for both Smith and Millard, and the city Police Department was not called by either party to investigate, according to Anthony J. Guglielmi, a department spokesman.
Filing "cross charges" is a common defense tactic, said attorney A. Dwight Pettit, who does not represent either person. He said trials in such cases are often dismissed because the state tends to consolidate the cases and try them together. The parties often decline to testify, citing their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.
The charges - second-degree assault - are misdemeanors and can be brought even if the alleged victim is not touched.
"It is merely the placing of another person in apprehension of harm," Pettit said.
