Democratic Hopeful's Arrest Draws Media's Interest

It was the volume of media attention that a candidate hovering at 1 percent in the polls would normally welcome.

A stand of microphones and a row of television cameras and reporters awaited David B. Dickerson, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, at a news conference scheduled on his behalf yesterday afternoon in Towson.

But the reporters had not come to hear his views on Iraq or on health care. Instead, they had come to ask about his arrest Saturday on charges of second-degree rape, fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault against his wife.

Dickerson, a 43-year-old resident of Baltimore County, stood silent and grim-faced, flanked by two lawyers. One of them, Craig Kadish, denounced the charges as "absolutely and utterly false."

Kadish said he could not discuss details of the allegations by Dickerson's 19-year-old wife, Anna, but said Dickerson is cooperating fully with the Baltimore County state's attorney's office.

"He will continue to campaign," Kadish said, adding that the candidate "believes not only in the political process, he believes in the legal process."

Dickerson met his future wife during a business trip he made to her homeland of Latvia when she was 16, according to a statement of charges filed in Baltimore County District Court. "He said, 'Call me when you're 18,' " Kadish said in a telephone interview yesterday. The couple married in June 2005 in Latvia and later moved to Sparks, Md. Marital problems began after Anna Dickerson became pregnant, Kadish said. "She didn't want to be a mother, she didn't want to be a wife," he said.

According to the charging document, Anna Dickerson told police that her husband would hold her on the ground, strike her in the face and force her to have intercourse, allegations that Dickerson's attorney denied. The couple's 2-month-old child is being cared for by Anna Dickerson's mother in Latvia, according to court records.

Yesterday's news conference ended after four minutes when a television reporter asked about Dickerson's relationship with his wife, suggesting that "it sounds a little odd."

"When people fall in love, they get married, they have children," Kadish responded. "That's what they do. Thank you very much."

The candidate and his attorneys were chased down a sidewalk by the camera crews and reporters until they reached a waiting sedan, which sped away.

Dickerson is one of 18 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D). Polls show him with less than 1 percent support.

According to his campaign Web site, Dickerson is a Baltimore native who worked his way through college and received a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate from the University of Cambridge in England.