Former House Speaker Mike Hubbard, who represented Auburn for nearly two decades in the Alabama Legislature, may have a few more months before he has to head back to court on his felony ethics charges.
The Lee County Circuit Court on Monday asked for a time extension of 28 days to allow the Court Circuit Clerk to file the Court Record of Appeal, which includes all of the motions, orders and transcripts from the June 2016 trial.
Judge Samuel Henry Welch of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals granted the extension Tuesday, giving the Lee County Circuit Court until March 1 of this year to submit the record.
Hubbard's case involves twelve felony ethics guilty charges, and, according to the court documents, consists of "well over 550 filings." Lee County Circuit Clerk Mary Roberson said the filing will be "voluminous."
"While this number of filings alone are rare in a criminal case and would warrant an extension of time, many of these filings are Under Seal, which will make the preparation of the Clerk's Record even more complex," she wrote in her motion to the court.
In addition to the case's complex filings, Roberson also said the Circuit Clerk's Office in Lee County is currently understaffed and has been for years. Only one court specialist is assigned to handle all appeals in Lee County, she said.
The appeal record filing deadline was extended at least once before last November. At the time, the Court of Criminal Appeals gave the Lee County Circuit Court until Dec. 28 to complete and certify the court reporter's transcript.
Hubbard first filed his notice of appeal on Nov. 5. The former House Speaker's lead defense attorney Bill Baxley said at the time that juror and prosecutorial misconduct would be at the forefront of Hubbard's arguments during his
“I think juror misconduct was the heart of it,” Baxley said. “[But], that’s just part of it. There’s so much there, that’s only part of it.”
Hubbard was removed from office in June 2016 after being found guilty of 12 felony ethics violations. The Lee County jury who heard his case found him guilty of voting on legislation with a conflict of interest and accepting things of value from lobbyists and principals — the people who hire lobbyists.
Following his conviction, his attorneys filed several post-trial motions alleging juror misconduct in the Lee County Justice Center and subsequently sought a new trial or automatic acquittal. Though the motions were never ruled on by Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker, they were automatically denied by
Hubbard and his team of attorneys maintain that he committed no crime and that the attorney general's office allowed former Ethics Commission Executive Director Jim Sumer to improperly influence the jury.
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