Former longtime Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely, who was booked into Franklin County Jail on Friday after he exhausted his appeals, has filed another challenge to his felony convictions.

Blakely, who served 38 years as sheriff, was automatically removed from the position when a Limestone County jury on Aug. 3, 2021, found him guilty of first-degree theft and using his public office for personal gain. He was sentenced to three years in the Franklin County Jail, but until Friday had been out of jail on an appeal bond. His appeals ended when the state Supreme Court on Feb. 10 declined to consider his appeal from the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.

Blakely’s latest challenge to his conviction comes in the form of a motion for post-conviction relief filed Friday. His argument, which he first made to the trial court in September, asserts that his trial judge was not licensed to practice law at the time she presided over the trial.

Pamela Baschab, a retired Jefferson County circuit judge, was appointed by the state Supreme Court to preside over the Blakely case in February 2021 because every Limestone County judge stepped aside from the case. Baschab’s law license lapsed for nonpayment of dues to the Alabama Bar Association the month before she took over Blakely’s case despite a constitutional requirement that judges have a license, Blakely’s lawyers argue in the motion. They argue that both the conviction and the three-year sentence should therefore be vacated.

All four Limestone County circuit and district judges today recused themselves from the case.

— [email protected] or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.

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