Jury selection for AL. State Rep. Moore in second day
LEE COUNTY, AL (WTVM) - An Alabama lawmaker faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of perjury and making false statements to a special grand jury.
Day two of testimony continued with the jury hearing secretly taped phone calls between the defendant, Representative Barry Moore, and the political opponent Moore allegedly tried to intimidate to get out of the race.
The prosecution claims Moore, the defendant in this case, and his political ally, Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, threatened to kill an economic project if Moore's opponent in the primary, Josh Pipkin, did not step down.
Pipkin testified on Tuesday that he recorded phone conversations with Moore after hearing Moore wanted him to get out of the race. He said if he did not, Moore claimed Hubbard would impede state funding to a project involving Enterprise Electronics, resulting in about 100 people losing their jobs.
"Are we going to lose a bunch of jobs if I do this," Pipkin asked in the recording.
Moore explained Hubbard was furious about spending campaign money in this Republican primary.
"I've got a meeting with the Speaker and he is furious. There is a lot at stake, I assure you," the person claimed to be Moore replied via the recording.
"The last thing I want to do is jeopardize those jobs. I'll get out," Pipkin said in the recording.
"I'll tell him if we get these jobs, you will get out," Moore said in the recording.
These recording contradict what Moore said in his grand jury testimony. Moore testified he did not assert to Pipkin he would encourage Hubbard to get the economic deal if Pipkin promised to stay out of the race.
In the end, Pipkin did not step down, but he did lose in the primary to Moore.
Moore has been charged with lying to the special grand jury, not ethics charges. The special grand jury did indict Hubbard on 23 felony ethics violations last week.
Hubbard said he has done nothing wrong and will not be called to testify in this trial.
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