Susan Hubbard, Mike Hubbard, Lance Bell

Susan Hubbard, Mike Hubbard and attorney Lance Bell walk to the Lee County Justice Center on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Opelika, Ala., for a pretrial hearing. The Republican speaker faces 23 felony ethics charges. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP)

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Nineteen months after a special grand jury charged him with 23 felony ethics violations, Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard goes on trial today.

A jury of nine men and seven women, including four alternates, will hear the evidence and decide whether the speaker used his public offices for personal gain.

Opening arguments are set for today in Lee County Circuit Court in Opelika.

A conviction on any of the charges would remove Hubbard from office. Each count carries a potential prison sentence of two to 20 years.

Hubbard has denied any wrongdoing and has called the case a "political witch hunt."

His lawyers have claimed the ethics law is being applied in ways that are overly broad and to activities that were legal. They have spent much of the time since the indictment trying to get Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker to dismiss the charges, without success.

Prosecutors have said the case is no "witch hunt," saying the grand jury heard from over 150 witnesses in a year before issuing the indictment in October 2014.

The state claims that Hubbard:

Used his former position as state Republican Party chairman to direct more than $1 million in GOP money to his businesses, Craftmaster Printers and the Auburn Network.

Voted for legislation that uniquely benefited American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., while his company, Auburn Network, was receiving $5,000 a month under a consulting contract with APCI.

Used his office for personal gain through a $12,000 per month contract with Southeast Alabama Gas District.

Solicited and received $7,500 per month from Edgenuity Inc., a company that employed a lobbyist in Alabama and had active interests in state government.

Used his office for personal gain through a $10,000 per month contract with a business owned by Robert Abrams.

Solicited and received a total of $600,000 in investments in Craftmaster Printers from four "principals." Principals are defined under the ethics law as people or businesses that employ a lobbyist.

Solicited and received help with his business, Auburn Network, from former Gov. Bob Riley, Minda Riley Campbell, Riley's daughter, and William Canary, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama. All three are registered lobbyists.

In a motion to have the case dismissed filed in August 2015, Hubbard's lawyers countered each of the charges, claiming: