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Will Mike Hubbard Take A Plea Deal? - Donald V. Watkins
Roger Alan Shuler d/b/a Legal Schnauzer published an insightful commentary below on whether House Speaker Mike Hubbard will take a plea deal, as we reported in an exclusive two-part series of article on May 4 and 5, 2016, titled, "A Conversation with Bill Baxley". Of course, Baxley has denied that any kind of plea deal is in the works. He says Hubbard is completely innocent of the 23 public corruption charges against him.
Roger Alan Shuler explains why Baxley's public denials may not be the final word on this subject as Hubbard's May 16, 2016, trial date rapidly approaches. As the lead attorney who tried and won a record-breaking 85-count accounting fraud case against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, I totally agree with Roger Alan Shuler's assessment that Hubbard cannot prevail in his criminal case. The odds of winning Hubbard's case are slim to none.
The major difference between the Scrushy and Hubbard cases lies in the nature of the government's core evidence against each man. In Hubbard's case, there are tons of emails in which Hubbard asked for money in exchange for things he should have been doing for free in his capacity as a legislator and Speaker of the House. Shockingly, a host of Republican power-brokers gave Hubbard money in exchange for such favors. In Scrushy's case, there was no evidence documenting Scrushy's involvement in the $2.7 billion fraud scheme at HealthSouth; not one single document out of six million pages of records seized by the FBI showed that Scrushy knew of or willingly participated in the fraud scheme. Thus, he was acquitted of all criminal charges.
What is more, a mock jury trial using Lee County residents found Hubbard guilty on all 23 counts. Former U.S. Attorney Redding Pitt, who's is now deceased, presented the mock trial case for the government. Baxley did not deny the outcome of the mock trial. None of this bodes well for Hubbard.
A conviction on any one of Hubbard's 23 felony counts is guaranteed to send him to prison for a very long time. Upon a conviction, Hubbard will automatically forfeit his public office as a legislator and as Speaker of the House. As a world-class criminal defense lawyer, Baxley cannot and will not guarantee Hubbard that he can win his case. The only real tool Hubbard has available to him for mitigating the sky-high risk of a long prison sentence is a plea deal.
Will Hubbard take a plea deal? Are prosecutors still interested in offering Hubbard a plea deal now that they have him cornered? We will know the answers to these questions by the start of Hubbard's trial on Monday. Either way, Mike Hubbard is done as House Speaker and a legislator.
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Donald V Watkins
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