Former Alabama House Speaker and Auburn Republican Rep. Mike Hubbard filed an appeal of his felony ethics conviction yesterday with the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
In the appeal, Hubbard's attorneys suggested they will take the June verdict to task on jury misconduct and court error in ruling on pre-trial, trial and post-trial motions. Bill Baxley, Hubbard's lead attorney, has said the jury was biased against the former speaker.
"We're very confident that we're going to prevail, and he's going to be totally exonerated at the end of the day," Baxley said.
Juror misconduct would be only be part of their larger argument during appeal, Baxley said.
"I think that was the heart of it, [but] that's just part of it," he said. "There's so much there. That's only part of it."
Briefs to the court have not been filed yet, Baxley said. They will have to wait until the court updates its records.
Last month, Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker denied a motion from the prosecution requesting that the court order Hubbard to pay $1.125 million in restitution to the state.
Walker didn't rule on any of the remaining three post-trial motions filed by the defense, which called for a new trial, acquittal and an investigation into juror misconduct.
Walker's refusal to rule on the remaining motions by Sept. 6 effectively ended Hubbard's Lee County trial. The judge was required to rule on the motion within 60 days from Hubbard's date of sentencing. Since he didn't, the motions were automatically denied.
Upon conviction in June, Hubbard was immediately removed from both his office as Alabama House speaker and his seat as Auburn's House representative. A special election was called by Gov. Robert Bentley in late June to replace Hubbard's seat.
Auburn Battalion Chief Joe Lovvorn won the Republican Primary last month, and because no other candidates qualified, he was named the winner by the Secretary of State's Office.
He was sworn in late last month.
Hubbard was convicted of 12 felony ethics violations in early June. The former speaker was found guilty of voting on legislation despite conflicts of interest, accepting illegal investments from lobbyists and principles, using his office for personal gain and lobbying the executive branch, among other offenses.
In July, the former speaker was sentenced to four years in a state penitentiary.
Hubbard will remain free on bond until a verdict is rendered in the appeal. The appeal will be handed up to the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals or the Alabama Supreme Court, if they choose to take it up.
Hubbard maintains his innocence and has said all of the contracts and investments were legal.
"There was no crime," Baxley said. "This should have never gone to the jury, in our opinion. A crime has to be something that violates a statute."
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