Prosecutors for the state of Alabama and defendant Mike Hubbard have jointly requested a one-week extension to provide a Lee County court redacted transcripts of Hubbard’s prison phone calls and messages.
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office has alleged that the calls and emails revealed that the former speaker had lied when he signed a letter saying he was sorry for his actions and took full responsibility; those recordings also revealed two other plots to help earn Hubbard an early release, including a plan to alter criminal justice reform legislation that would allow Hubbard, and presumably other prisoners, an early release.
An odd series of events led to no public notification being filed for a hearing on November 18 to determine whether those records would be made available to the public. It was decided at the hearing that only redacted transcripts would be provided.
Now both sides are asking for an extra week to complete the redacting process.
“The State received an initial production of the transcripts on Monday, November 29. The State received revised versions of the transcripts that corrected certain typographical errors on Tuesday, November 30,” the extension request reads. “The State has provided these copies to defense counsel and is in the process of reviewing and redacting the transcripts consistent with this court’s order … After consultation with defense counsel, the parties agreed that one additional week would allow for sufficient time to attempt to reach an agreement on appropriate redactions.”
It is not yet clear what information will be redacted from the transcripts. The AG’s initial filing notes several other participants in the schemes, but it does not directly name some of them. The recordings, however, would identify those who sought to participate in the plan.
If granted, the new deadline to provide the redacted transcripts would be December 9.
