Alabama House of Representative Speaker Mike Hubbard's, R-Auburn, trial date has been set for Oct. 19.
Hubbard was charged with 23 counts of felony ethics violations. Hubbard called the charges a "political witch hunt" when he was indicted.
Judge Jacob A. Walker presided over a scheduling hearing for the trial Jan. 30.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to a motions hearing April 15.
Defense attorney Mark White requested the hearing to decide what evidence will not be admitted be closed to the public.
"(Hubbard's) trying to avoid having a bunch of stuff put in the public record that's not relevant," White said.
Walker said he would decide whether the hearing will be sealed at a later date.
Walker added the media should not live-tweet during the trial.
"There are issues about sending out real-time tweets during testimony, and there can be issues with witnesses who are sequestered reading (the tweets)," Walker said. "It's just part of handling trials in the 21st century."
Prosecutors said they expect it to take two weeks to present their case.
Defense attorneys said they will have to see all the evidence before they can estimate how long their case will take.
Prosecutors will turn over evidence to the defense Feb. 17.
Walker set the pre-trial hearing for Aug. 28.
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