Workman is charged with one count each of second- and third-degree felony misuse of public funds for allegedly misappropriating $18,000 in county health department money.

Prosecutors alleged Workman arranged to have two successive bookkeepers hired by the county, even though they worked exclusively for the South Valley Boys and Girls Clubs, where Workman's daughter was the chief financial officer.

The club was about to hire a third bookkeeper under the same circumstances when the scandal was exposed in June.

During closing arguments, special prosecutor Michael Martinez pounded home his claim that the county cannot give money to charitable organizations unless the county receives some tangible benefit in return.

Martinez repeatedly said Workman and her daughter, Aisza Wilde, were involved in a "cover-up" of what he described as "a gravy train."

Martinez said Workman - who did not testify - had failed to provide any legal justification for her actions during the five-day trial.

Instead, Martinez said, her strategy was to claim she was not detail-oriented and to blame her subordinates and other county workers for failing to correct her purported misstep.

''What do you call this, 'The Forgetful-Mayor-Defense?' '' scoffed Martinez. '' 'The Big-Picture-Mayor Defense?' ''

But defense attorney Jack Morgan stressed that Workman made a mistake - a "routine mistake" which was ultimately corrected with a mere ledger entry.

Morgan said that the county did indeed benefit from providing employees to work for the Boys and Girls Clubs.

He said both entities have similar "missions" - to improve the health and welfare of county citizens. He said an $18,000 donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs "helps us all," and was "entirely consistent with the mission of Salt Lake County."

"Why are we here?" asked Morgan. "Would we be here if it was the United Way or the Boy Scouts?"

He said there was no intent on Workman's part to deceive or defraud.

Morgan said Workman's top lieutenant, David Marshall, initially supported the defense assertion that the mayor's errors were procedural rather than criminal.

But after Workman held a Labor Day news conference about the hirings, where she cast blame on her staff, Marshall "got mad," Morgan said.

"He felt Nancy had turned on him . . . and his story changed 180 degrees," he said.

Marshall had testified that Workman never mentioned the club to him. He said she wanted to hire someone to be her "eyes and ears" in the community regarding health-care access, which prompted Marshall to hire the person as a health-department employee.

Marshall's credibility came into question Tuesday, when the defense called two private investigators who met with Marshall in July.

Investigator Jeff Wright said Marshall said then that nothing illegal had occurred. And Marshall said he knew the mayor was placing someone at the club, according to Wright.

But testifying again on Wednesday as a rebuttal witness, Marshall reiterated that the mayor asked him to hire someone to assess "health-care barriers."

Wright ''asked if I knew we were hiring anyone illegally,'' Marshall testified. "I said no."

Marshall reiterated that a 10-minute meeting with the mayor in June 2003 was "what started everything."

The other person who was at that meeting, bookkeeper Alina Iorga, a Romanian native, testified Wednesday that she understood she was being "loaned" to the club by the county and that Workman might ask her to do some "Romanian translation" work. But Iorga said the mayor never followed up.

Iorga said the mayor never mentioned health care work or barriers to health care, and that it was Marshall who told her she would be hired by the health department.

Martinez quipped later during closing arguments: "There was not even a translation for a sick Romanian."

Morgan insisted that if Workman was trying to cover-up, ''she did a lousy job.''

The bookkeepers plainly stated on their county job applications that they worked for the Boys and Girls Clubs. And, said Morgan, Workman signed their time sheets each week.

In closing, Morgan told jury members they were selected because they were not among those who voiced suspicions that politicians run for office for personal gain.

"You said politicians run because they want to serve," he said.

Morgan told them that if they convicted Workman because "she didn't follow policy," other high-caliber people would be reluctant to seek public office.

He said this was the first time a Utah public official had been prosecuted for making charitable donations with public funds.

"And it should be the last time," Morgan added.