Prosecutors call Mike Hubbard’s jury investigation request ‘unfettered fishing expedition’

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Mike Hubbard Day 2
Attorney Lance Bell and Mike Hubbard talk before the start of the second day of trial [Photo Credit: AP, Pool | Todd Van Emst]

Alabama state prosecutors say they oppose former House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s request for the sheriff  to investigate whether there was misconduct by the jury that found him guilty on 12 ethics charges last month.

Hubbard’s lawyers filed a motion last week, immediately after he was sentenced to four years in prison, with an affidavit from an unnamed or alternate juror who claimed to have heard multiple jurors make comments that showed a bias against Hubbard as early as day one of the ethics trial.

“I observed numerous improprieties amongst various members of the jury,” the affidavit says. “I noticed this on the first day of the trial and it continued through most of the trial. We, the Jury, were told that we need to render a fair and impartial verdict. Based on what I was hearing from the beginning of the trial until the end, several jurors had their mind made up to convict Mr. Hubbard before the trial even started.”

Parts of the two-page affidavit are redacted to conceal the identities of the jurors accused of holding bias. Hubbard’s lawyers also filed an un-redacted version under seal for Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker.

Walker gave the state until Monday to respond to the request.

The attorney general’s obliged, filing a response to the request Monday saying Hubbard is seeking an “unfettered fishing expedition into the deliberations of the jury.”

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