The attorney for former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard asked a judge to consider his previous apology and release him early.
Hubbard’s attorney, Jonathan Corley, in an Oct. 20 court filing told Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker that Hubbard’s 13 months in prison has given him time to reflect on his actions, and that the judge should disregard the state’s motion against releasing him early.
“Regardless of the positions previously taken by Defendant throughout the course of this litigation, his time in prison has obviously given him the opportunity to reflect not only on his actions, but also on the broader implications that his convictions have had on his former constituents and the entire political system,” Corley wrote in the filing. “Accordingly, the State’s veiled portrayal of Defendant’s apology as crocodile tears or anything other than completely honest is conclusory, speculative, and simply erroneous.”
The state attorney general’s office in September asked the judge not to rule in favor of Hubbard’s request for an early release, stating Hubbard’s apology wasn’t reason enough to cut his sentence short.
“My conviction has severely damaged and embarrassed me and my family, friends, former constituents, church, the legislature and the State of Alabama,” Hubbard wrote in his earlier letter to the court. “I recognize and admit my errors… the fact that I was convicted of violating the ethics law of which I oversaw the drafting and passing is embarrassing, and I apologize to the court.”
“It is a positive step that Hubbard recognizes that his crimes ‘harmed society as a whole,’ but he is wrong to think the best way to repair that harm is for the Court to release the very man who caused it after he has served less than half his sentence,” the state wrote to the court, asking the judge not to release him early.
Corley told the judge in the filing that Hubbard’s apology “should carry weight when considering early release” and that he has served almost half of his sentence and is “simply seeking a remedy that is available to every other Alabamian serving a custodial sentence—a release earlier than his scheduled release date.”
Hubbard in 2016, was convicted of 12 felonies, including using his office for personal financial gain. The Court of Criminal Appeals later struck down one charge, leaving 11 and the original sentence of 28 months in prison. He has served more than a year of that sentence. Hubbard is serving at Limestone Correctional Facility.
