By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
MONTGOMERY—The prosecution in the Mike Hubbard criminal case filed a motion on Monday, “strongly” opposing a continuance of his trial on October, 19, 2015.
In what is being described as a delaying tactic, Hubbard has asked Lee County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Walker III, for more time to prepare a defense for the 23 felony counts of public corruption leveled against him. Despite agreeing to the current trial date on January 30, 2015 at the scheduling conference—189 days ago, Hubbard now says he needs more time.
The State responded by stating, “Hubbard has not offered any legitimate reasons to postpone his criminal trial – a day in court which he and his defense lawyers have publicly stated that they anxiously await. The State is ready for trial and there is no legitimate reason why Hubbard should not also be ready.”
Hubbard’s criminal trial is set to begin exactly 363 days after his arrest, and the prosecution thinks that his legal team has been given ample time to prepare.
The State uses Hubbard’s own words, and that of his white-collar criminal defense attorney, J. Mark White against them saying, “On October 21, 2014, the day after Hubbard was arrested, his counsel publicly stated at a press conference that the defense ‘will be running a hurry-up offense.’ (Statement of J. Mark White at Hubbard’s press conference). Hubbard himself publicly stated that he was “looking forward to clearing [his] name.”
But, since the beginning of the investigation until now, Hubbard has engaged in an elaborate scheme to deny, deflect, and delay his prosecution.
According to the prosecution, “Contrary to Hubbard and his counsel’s statements, Hubbard has sought to delay this case by manufacturing discovery issues as a pretext for a continuance, issuing well over 40 subpoenas on irrelevant and collateral matters, and inexplicably stalling the filing of his long-promised motion challenging the constitutionality of the Alabama Ethics Law – an Act he publicly championed and supported.” The State continues, “Hubbard’s dilatory tactics should not be rewarded by granting him a continuance of the trial.”
Delays are often a part of a master strategy in criminal cases, because fuzzy memories, missing witnesses, and the passage of time favors the criminal defendant.
Hubbard’s attorneys continue to complain about the format of the State’s discovery material, even though the State provided these materials in native format over three months ago.
They have also indicated they will challenge the constitutionality of the Ethics Law that forms the foundation of the charges against Hubbard, laws he championed in 2010, both in the press and in his vanity tome, Storming the State House.
The State contends that perhaps the most important reason for a speedy trial is that Hubbard, “continues to hold his seat as the Representative of District 79, and as Speaker of the House – the same positions of public trust that he was indicted by a Grand Jury for abusing. The people of Alabama have a strong interest in the timely resolution of the criminal charges against Hubbard, because, until this case is tried to verdict one way or the other, a cloud will hang over him and the important public office that he holds.”
A pre-trial conference is set for August 17, and there is no indication that it will be rescheduled.
