Posted 3/1/23


In the story that simply keeps going….

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

Blakely's latest challenge to his conviction comes in the form of a motion for post-conviction relief filed Friday. His argument, 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.