Riley Takes Stand In Ethics Trial

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) – The Latest on the ethics trial of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard (all times local):

10 a.m.

Former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley says the state’s House speaker was sometimes serious and sometimes joking when he asked for a job.

Testimony resumed Monday in House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s ethics trial.  Prosecutors asked Riley about emails Hubbard sent him as he looked for a job.

Riley said Hubbard was seriously looking for a job after being laid off from his primary employer.  However, Riley said Hubbard’s email lamenting a new state ethics law he just passed was “obviously” a joke.

Hubbard faces 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of using his political positions to make money and seek financial favors, investments and employment from lobbyists and people with business before the Alabama Legislature.

Hubbard says he’s innocent and the transactions were within the bounds of the ethics law and its exemptions for longstanding friendships and normal business dealings.