If you're like me, when you receive gift cards, you're likely to stow them away in your wallet, where they stay largely forgotten until those occasional times when cash flow gets tight. When I finally use one, I rarely remember who gave it to me.

If you're like Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, you use those suckers right away. That's what they're meant for, right?

Not so fast, say prosecutors in Dixon's criminal theft trial, which got under way on Nov. 13. They accuse the city's first female mayor of spending about 60 gift cards, worth roughly $1,500, on herself, when they were intended for needy families at Christmastime.

The question comes down to whether you believe the mayor is enough of a scrooge to deliberately steal groceries from the mouths of hungry residents -- yes, Giant (a grocery chain) gift cards are among those in question -- or if, like many of us, she simply failed to keep her gift cards straight.

"When you steal, you've committed a theft," state prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh said in opening arguments. "When you steal, and you're a public servant, and you steal from the needy, it's unspeakable."

All Mixed Up in Love

Dixon's defense is that she mixed up the gift cards, which were donated by developer Patrick Turner, with ones that had been donated by her married ex-boyfriend, Ronald H. Lipscomb, to use as she pleased. Prosecutors must prove she intentionally stole the cards from needy families, say her attorneys.

Lipscomb is expected to testify that his gift cards were indeed intended for the needy, and not his beloved, contrary to what the mayor's defense claims. (Lipscomb has since returned to his wife and is presumably showering her with groceries now.)

The gift cards, which were also from big-box chains such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Old Navy, were allegedly used by Dixon over a four-year period. A raid of her home turned up a $400 Xbox 360 game system, a $269 Samsung camcorder and an unopened DVD of the movie 'Four Brothers,' among other items. All the items are connected to store receipts and gift cards.


Everyone's Doing It

On Nov. 14, a number of city employees testified that it was common practice for holiday gift cards to come across their desks, too. According to the Baltimore Sun, the mayor's current boyfriend, housing department division chief Edward Anthony, told the court that he frequently receives retail gift cards that he then loses track of. During cross-examination by defense attorney Melissa Phinn, Anthony said, "Being a single man, I don't have the best organization. ... I have a lot of gift cards laying around." He also acknowledged that a gift card traced to Lipscomb was used in conjunction with his own Giant discount card.

Despite the controversy surrounding the trial, Dixon still appears to have a number of supporters. Community organizations and business groups, such as the Maryland Minority Contractors Association Inc., have reportedly packed the courtroom where the trial is taking place. They say she's been an effective mayor, and some of them suggest that a trial over such a small amount of money (we're not talking $90,000 cash stashed in the freezer, William Jefferson–style) is a racially or politically motivated attempt to take a good sister down.

Meanwhile, the mayor seems to be holding up reasonably well under the stress of the trial, notwithstanding (see the video above) the occasional flare-up. Trial testimony resumed today.

______________

Sheryl Huggins Salomon is contributing editor of Black Voices, where she writes about politics and society. She is co-editor of the 'Nia Guide for Black Women' series of self-improvement books and the former publisher of Shade magazine. Follow her on Twitter or contact her at BVCEditor@aol.com.