Opinion
CR-16-0012
09-04-2020
Michael Gregory HUBBARD v. STATE of Alabama
William J. Baxley, Joel E. Dillard, and David McKnight of Baxley, Dillard, McKnight, James & McElroy, Birmingham; Sam Heldman of The Gardner Firm, Washington, D.C.; R. Lance Bell of Trussell Funderburg Rea & Bell, PC, Pell City; and Philip E. Adams, Jr., and Blake Oliver of Adams White Oliver Short & Forbus LLP, Opelika, for appellant. Steve Marshall, atty. gen., and Miles M. Hart and Michael B. Duffy, deputy attys. gen., and Megan A. Kirkpatrick, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.
William J. Baxley, Joel E. Dillard, and David McKnight of Baxley, Dillard, McKnight, James & McElroy, Birmingham; Sam Heldman of The Gardner Firm, Washington, D.C.; R. Lance Bell of Trussell Funderburg Rea & Bell, PC, Pell City; and Philip E. Adams, Jr., and Blake Oliver of Adams White Oliver Short & Forbus LLP, Opelika, for appellant.
Steve Marshall, atty. gen., and Miles M. Hart and Michael B. Duffy, deputy attys. gen., and Megan A. Kirkpatrick, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.
On Remand from the Alabama Supreme Court
COLE, Judge.
Michael Gregory Hubbard, the former Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, was indicted by a special grand jury on 23 charges related to alleged abuses of the official position or public office he occupied at the time of the offenses. Hubbard was tried by a jury and was convicted of 12 of the 23 counts--Counts 5, 6, 10-14, 16-19, and 23. The trial court sentenced Hubbard. He appealed the convictions and sentences.
This Court's opinion on original submission, Hubbard v. State, [Ms. CR-16-0012, Aug. 27, 2018] ––– So. 3d ––––, 2018 WL 4079590 (Ala. Crim. App. 2018), and the Alabama Supreme Court's opinion, Ex parte Hubbard, [Ms. 1180047, April 10, 2020] ––– So. 3d ––––, 2020 WL 1814587 (Ala. 2020), detail Hubbard's charges and the facts underlying each of those charges. There is no need to recount them here.
On August 27, 2018, this Court issued an opinion affirming Hubbard's "convictions and sentences on Counts 6, 10, 11-14, 16-19, and 23. We reverse[d] and render[ed] a judgment on Count 5." Hubbard v. State, [Ms. CR-16-0012, Aug. 27, 2018] ––– So. 3d ––––, ––––, 2018 WL 4079590 (Ala. Crim. App. 2018). After this Court overruled Hubbard's application for rehearing, Hubbard petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court for certiorari review of the 11 counts affirmed by this Court. The Supreme Court granted certiorari review on March 11, 2019.
On April 10, 2020, the Supreme Court issued an opinion affirming this Court's judgment as to Hubbard's convictions on Counts 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. See Ex parte Hubbard, [Ms. 1180047, April 10, 2020] 321 So. 3d 70, 97, 2020 WL 1814587 (Ala. 2020). The Supreme Court, however, unanimously reversed this Court's judgment as to Counts 16, 17, 18, 19, and 23, holding that the State's evidence as to those counts was insufficient. Id. at 97, 2020 WL 1814587. The Supreme Court then remanded Hubbard's case to this Court "for further proceedings consistent with" its opinion. Id. at 97, 2020 WL 1814587.
In accordance with the Alabama Supreme Court's opinion, we reverse Hubbard's convictions and sentences as to Counts 16, 17, 18, 19, and 23 and render a judgment in his favor as to those counts. We again affirm Hubbard's convictions and sentences as to Counts 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND JUDGMENT RENDERED IN PART.
Kellum, McCool, and Minor, JJ., concur. Windom, P.J., recuses herself.