Judge: Baltimore mayor charges stand

BALTIMORE, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Perjury charges against Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will not be dismissed, a judge has ruled.

Circuit Judge Dennis Sweeney determined Monday that arguments by Dixon's lawyers to throw out the perjury charges were not persuasive, setting up the possibility the mayor will stand trial on allegations she lied by not disclosing gifts given to her by a developer boyfriend, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Dixon also faces the prospect of standing trial on charges she allegedly stole gift cards intended for the needy.

"It is not good news from the standpoint of her being able to govern," Donald Norris, chairman of the Department of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, told the Sun. "She is now going to be in two separate trials at two separate times."

The newspaper said Sweeney turned back defense arguments that prosecutors would not to be able prove their case against Dixon because the evidence they want to use against her -- namely, knowledge she gained about development projects through meetings as City Council president -- could not be used because of a principle known as "legislative immunity."