NEWPORT BEACH : Way Cleared for Dixon Theft Trial

Former Newport Beach utilities director Robert J. Dixon waived his rights to a preliminary hearing Thursday and was ordered to stand trial on charges that he embezzled nearly $2 million from the city.

Defense attorney Stephan A. DeSales said in an interview Thursday that he and his client decided to bypass the preliminary hearing to speed up the court procedures.

Municipal Judge Susanne S. Shaw scheduled Dixon’s arraignment for March 17.

Dixon, 47, was arrested in January and charged with two counts of felony embezzlement. Police alleged that since 1988 Dixon cashed checks that he ordered the city to write to nonexistent property owners for underground water easements.

Dixon has pleaded not guilty to both counts and remains in Orange County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

He signed a stipulation last month giving the city all of his assets, which include properties in Huntington Beach, Arizona and Jamaica, an extensive art collection and all of his personal bank accounts.

DeSales said he has talked to the district attorney’s office about a possible plea agreement. “It’s still premature to say,” he said Thursday, “but that possibility is certainly always open.”

In the past, DeSales has indicated that Dixon’s mental state will be an issue in the case. He declined to talk about Dixon’s state of mind Thursday but said that a panel of psychiatrists has interviewed Dixon and its members have issued a 200-page report.

Besides the criminal charges, the city of Newport Beach is also suing Dixon for the $1.8 million officials said he stole.