by MELODY SIMMONS

     “Making progress.”

     That’s the self-evaluation of the jury in the felony theft trial of Mayor Sheila Dixon at the Mitchell Courthouse as the proceeding that has mesmerized most of Baltimore entered its third week.

      The positive-leaning phrase was the subject of speculation Monday morning that the jury was moving toward a verdict during its third day of deliberations. But by 4:30 p.m., a note emerged saying the panel of nine women and three men wanted to go home for the day.

     Judge Dennis M. Sweeney granted the request, and instructed jurors to return by 9 a.m. Tuesday.

     Dixon, dressed in a black business suit and heels, her hair held back by a barrette, appeared at times tense and pensive as the deliberations lumbered on. She spent most of the day in the courtroom, talking to members of her staff and supporters, which included City Councilman Robert Curran and a local minister who came to court to pray for Dixon.

     “She is holding up,” said Arnold Weiner, Dixon’s lead attorney. “She has been out and is conducting business around town” as best she can.

     The jury has sent a flurry of notes to Judge Sweeney over the three-day deliberation, seeking guidance on evidence, legal terms and even protocol for sending notes out from the jury room.

     One juror on Monday sought a break from deliberations because he needed “a smoke” and fresh air outdoors. He lit up far from the glare of the several television trucks that line Calvert Street outside the courthouse, creating an open-air media circus with more lights and cameras than ‘The Wire’ ever brought.