Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard’s ethics trial is a step closer to happening.
Judge Jacob Walker issued an 18-page order Tuesday, March 29, setting the trial to begin the week of May 16, but ordered lawyers in the case to be ready as soon as May 9 if other cases on the docket are resolved.
Hubbard was charged with 23 felony counts of violating Alabama’s ethics law in October 2014.
The case was set to begin April 11, but the prosecution asked for a delay because special prosecutor Matt Hart will be recovering from knee surgery.
Walker also ruled on several pending motions, including a motion from Hubbard’s attorneys, that the case be dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct by Hart.
Walker denied the motion and said Hart’s actions did not rise to the level of prosecutorial misconduct, according to court documents.
Attorneys for Hubbard said Hart used a Lee County grand jury to threaten former Deputy Attorney General Sonny Reagan over disputed office space.
Reagan resigned from the attorney general’s office in 2014 after Attorney General Luther Strange said he would fire Reagan for giving legal advice to Hubbard about the Lee County grand jury.
The defense also accused Hart of leaking a sealed court document to Bill Britt, editor of the Alabama Political Reporter website, and they argued that Hart leaked information related to the grand jury.
Hart said he sent Britt the document without realizing the document was under seal and told Britt about the mistake as soon as he found out. Britt had already published the document online, but he took it down after Hart told him it was under seal.
The incident caused Walker to issue a gag order to all of the attorneys in the case, prohibiting them from speaking to the media about the case.
“Though the incident involving Mr. Hart and Mr. Britt was regrettable, it occurred more than a year after (Hubbard) was indicted,” Walker said in his Tuesday order. “The defendant has failed to produce evidence that Mr. Hart was, in fact, ‘leaking’ information related to the Lee County Special Grand Jury, rather than sharing court filings with media contacts.”
Walker also said his order did not prevent Hubbard’s defense team from bringing up Hart’s handling of the case at trial.
Emails as evidence
Hubbard said the case was a “political witch hunt” when he was indicted in 2014.
Prosecutors claim Hubbard used his office and his term as head of the Alabama Republican Party to personally benefit himself.
“Hubbard was motivated by his financial problems, including the loss of his employment with IMG, to solicit lobbyists and principals for things of value (i.e, consulting contracts for Auburn Network, financial favors, etc.),” said W. Van Davis, acting attorney general in the case, in a 2015 court filing. “Hubbard’s solicitation of persons with interests before the Alabama Legislature was also directly related to his service as a public official.”
Great Southern Wood CEO and Auburn Board of Trustees President Pro Tempore Jimmy Rane paid $150,000 into a $1.5 million investment plan meant to save Hubbard’s printing business Craftmaster Printing, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Hubbard used his position as speaker to obtain investors in the deal with the help of Birmingham businessman and former congressional candidate Will Brooke.
Mark White, Hubbard’s former attorney, who left the case in February, said in 2015 the prosecution’s court filing filled with emails from Hubbard was improper.
“It is replete with false statements and empty rhetoric,” White said. “Apparently designed to further mislead the public, the filing demonstrates a basic lack of knowledge about the state ethics laws and the relevant facts in this matter.”
‘House of Cards’
Hubbard’s legal troubles drew Gov. Robert Bentley into hot water after former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Spencer Collier revealed at a March 23 press conference in Montgomery that Bentley had an improper relationship with top adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason.
Collier said he was fired for disobeying an order from Bentley related to the Hubbard case.
Baron Coleman, a political consultant, lawyer and radio talk show host, signed an affidavit in February claiming he had 50–100 detailed conversations with Hart about the Hubbard investigation in 2014. At the time, Coleman was a political operative for Sandy Toomer, Hubbard’s opponent in the 2014 Republican primary.
Coleman said he used the information from Hart to start a “whisper campaign” against Hubbard before the indictment was released, according to court documents.
Hart said Coleman was an informant used for the investigation, and he never told Hart about anything related to the grand jury investigation.
Prosecutors asked ALEA for an affidavit stating there was no investigation into Hart and Coleman’s interactions, according to court documents.
Collier signed an affidavit that said Coleman visited him to discuss concerns about Hart.
Collier said he directed Coleman to Special Agent Jack Wilson for a formal interview.
Wilson signed an affidavit that said Coleman didn’t allege any violations of law, and ALEA was not investigating Hart.
“Matt Hart, I know, has the reputation of being a bulldog,” Collier said. “I can tell you [he] has been nothing but a gentleman to me.”
Bentley suggested Collier say the investigation was ongoing, according to Collier. When he didn’t, he was summoned to a meeting Feb. 16 with an angry Bentley and Mason, according to Collier.
“(Mason) had a level of anger I’ve rarely seen as a law enforcement officer,” Collier said.
Collier also said attorney Joe Espy was present at the meeting. Espy represents Brooke and Rane, according to AL.com.
“This is not the way law enforcement should work,” Collier said. “Elected officials should not wield this much power over criminal investigations. The people of this state deserve better.”
Bentley’s office did not respond to The Auburn Plainsman’s request for a comment, but Bentley said, at press conference held after Collier’s, he fired Collier because of misuse of state funds in ALEA under Collier’s leadership.
Collier told AL.com he felt like he was in an episode of “House of Cards.”
Walker used Collier’s affidavit and other evidence, including recorded conversations between Hart and Coleman, to deny Hubbard’s motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for April 15 at 10 a.m.
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