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Thread: Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala

  1. #11
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Black caucus demands Rick Scott rescind order taking Orlando prosecutor off cop-killer case

    Members of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus on Thursday called for Gov. Rick Scott to change his mind and rescind an executive order that transfered the case of a man accused of killing a police officer in Orlando away from the local state attorney after she declared she would not seek the death penalty.

    The order, signed by Scott last Thursday after State attorney Aramis Ayala publicly said she would not seek death for Markeith Loyd or any other accused murderer while she is in office, gives the Loyd case to Ocala-based State Attorney Brad King.

    Since the order, Scott has faced pressure from all sides. Some, including lawmakers, have demanded he suspend Ayala from office. Others, among them a group of lawyers and former state Supreme Court justices, call Scott's decision an overreach.

    "Gov. Scott's hasty response to State Attorney Ayala's announcement set a dangerous precedent and is a slap in the face of the voters who carried her into office," said Sen. Perry Thurston, D-Lauderhill, the chairman of the black caucus. "In this way, the order operated as little more than an unfettered and uninformed power grab by the governor's office over a difference of opinion."

    Removing Ayala from the Loyd case was unprecedented, Thurston said. He contends that the state attorney is using her prosecutorial discretion in choosing not to seek the death penalty and that Scott has gone beyond what the Constitution and state law intend by removing her from the case for this reason.

    Thurston noted that Scott did not intervene -- nor were there widespread calls for him to do so -- when Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle decided last week not to prosecute guards at Dade Correctional Institution who locked a schizophrenic inmate in a hot shower for two hours until he ultimately died.

    But, he said, Scott should not have stepped into either case, allowing prosecutors to make the decision for themselves.

    The governor has broad authority in the Constitution to move cases away from state attorneys if he believes justice would best be served by doing so, though it is most often used to avoid conflicts of interest. Ayala asked a judge to intervene in a court filing earlier this week.

    State Rep. Sean Shaw, D-Tampa, said there is another element of concern here: The long racially-tied history of Florida's death penalty.

    No white person has been executed in Florida for killing a black person.

    And research has shown that race of the defendent and race of the victim both play critical roles in the outcome of a death penalty case here.

    Ayala, who was elected in November, is the first African-American state attorney elected in the state's history.

    "Clearly all the data and all the studies show that the death penalty is applied with racial bias, particularly in Florida," Shaw said. "This is still the case and has always been the case, and by standing against the death penalty, State Attorney Ayala is standing with communities of color."

    http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-bu...ecutor/2317636
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  2. #12
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    Opinion:

    Romano: This is about deception, not the death penalty


    By John Romano
    The Tampa Bay Times

    Feel free to check whichever box seems like the more plausible explanation for Aramis Ayala's stunning death penalty announcement:

    After four years in law school, four years as a prosecutor, eight years as a public defender, nine years as an adjunct law professor and nine months as a state attorney candidate, she had an unforeseen epiphany last week regarding the merits of the death penalty.

    Or:

    She deceitfully hid her death penalty concerns to get elected.

    Yeah, go ahead and put me down for deceit. To believe anything else would feel hopelessly optimistic or heartbreakingly naïve.

    In case you hadn't heard, the newly elected state attorney in Orange-Osceola counties announced that she would not seek the death penalty in any future cases, including the trial of Markeith Loyd, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and a sheriff's deputy.

    Her stance caused Gov. Rick Scott to reassign the Loyd case to a neighboring state attorney, a decision Ayala is now fighting in court.

    So did the governor overstep his authority?

    That's up to the courts to decide.

    But was the governor's anger misplaced?

    No, I don't think it was.

    This case has ignited all the old arguments about the value of death sentences in the 21st century, and I do not begrudge anyone who feels strongly one way or another.

    On another day, in other circumstances, I might even praise someone in Ayala's position for the courage of their convictions. But the way she arrived at this moment smacks of duplicity and opportunism.

    When she announced her intention to run for office around this time last year, Ayala specifically cited incumbent Jeff Ashton's inefficient use of staff and his decision to merge the domestic violence and special victims units together as reasons for her candidacy. Later she criticized him for giving individual attorneys too much discretion on the filing of charges.

    Nowhere in news coverage of the campaign did she emphasize their differences on the death penalty. Instead, ironically, she talked often about strengthening communication with residents.

    "The community has to be able to trust you, and they have to be able to believe in you," she said on the campaign trail. "That requires consistency, that requires communication and it requires, most importantly, education."

    She's right about one thing: Trust is integral in her job.

    Jurors have to trust her. Judges have to trust her. Victims and their families have to trust her. And yet her decision to wait until four months after the election to make her death penalty feelings known does not engender a lot of faith in either her communication skills or her integrity.

    In light of that, Ayala's path to a stunning upset in that election now feels like fair game.

    Liberal activist and billionaire George Soros poured nearly $1 million into a political action committee that outrageously painted Ashton as a racist.

    And then, when it became clear there would be no Republican candidate and so the Democratic primary would decide the election, one of Ayala's financial supporters filed to run as a write-in for the GOP. That closed the Democratic primary to Republicans and independents, and essentially gave Ayala the election.

    (As an aside, Gov. Scott should spare some of his anger for the Republican-dominated Legislature that has outrageously refused to close this write-in loophole.)

    Ayala, of course, denied having anything to do with the PAC's mailers or with the write-in candidate. And anyone who buys that has my admiration for being so open-minded.

    Maybe you think Ayala is a hero for taking on the establishment and standing against the death penalty. That's one way to look at it. And maybe you think Ayala should be permanently removed from office for arbitrarily dismissing Florida's death penalty laws. That's another way to see it.

    As for me, I don't subscribe to either point of view.

    Mostly because I can't see past the deceptive way she got here.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...enalty/2317572
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #13
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Opinion:

    OUR VIEW: Orlando State attorney abused her power


    Panama City News Herald

    A state attorney's job is to follow the law, not make it.

    Thus was Gov. Rick Scott justified in removing Aramis Ayala, the state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties, from prosecuting an accused cop killer after she announced last week that she would refuse to seek the death penalty in that or any other cases.

    Capital punishment has been legal in Florida since 1976. Prosecutors still have discretion on whether to pursue capital charges on a case-by-case basis, and rightly so. They should not, however, refuse to apply a law as a general policy.

    Ayala's choice to grandstand on the Markeith Loyd case is baffling. Loyd is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton, whom he is accused of gunning down in cold blood outside a Walmart. Ayala's decision not to pursue the death penalty for an accused cop killer has not set well with law enforcement officials.

    Of all the cases that have raised valid questions about systemic flaws in the capital punishment system, Loyd's seemingly would rank low on the list of those meriting concerns.

    Ayala justified her decision not to seek the death penalty as being the product of "extensive, painstaking thought and consideration," after which she concluded that "Florida's death penalty has been the cause of considerable legal chaos, uncertainty and turmoil." That is true. Ironically, though, her statement came just days after Gov. Scott signed into law a bill requiring Florida juries to be unanimous in their recommending death sentences, whereas before only a majority was needed. That higher standard was a necessary and long-overdue response to court decisions that had found Florida's method of deciding capital cases unconstitutional.

    In short, the state already was improving its system when Ayala declared her defiance. If she believes more needs to be done, she should lobby the Legislature to change the law, not ignore it. Florida's other 19 state attorneys issued a joint statement

    Friday rebuking Ayala, asserting that enforcing the laws, including the death penalty, is "paramount to our oath of office." If Ayala is that strongly opposed to the death penalty — which can be an honorable, principled position — she should not have run for state attorney; if her opinion has changed since November, she should resign.

    Scott has not removed Ayala from office, he has only suspended the state attorney from prosecuting Loyd's case and appointed another prosecutor to take her place; state law gives the governor broad (if also vague) power to reassign a case for "good and sufficient" reasons.

    Florida's state attorneys should have the discretion to decide how and whether to prosecute criminal cases. Aramis Ayala has abused that power. That constitutes good and sufficient reason to remove her from the Markeith Loyd case.

    http://www.newsherald.com/news/20170...used-her-power
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #14
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Florida Speaker: Suspend prosecutor who nixes death penalty

    Las Vegas Sun

    TALLAHASEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran has called on the governor to suspend a prosecutor for pledging to not seek the death penalty in any case while she is in office.

    Corcoran said Thursday that Orlando State Attorney Aramis Ayala was "violating the constitution" because she is not even considering the death penalty. Capital punishment is authorized under the Florida Constitution. Corcoran added that if Florida lawmakers had the power to impeach Ayala, they would already be doing so.

    Gov. Rick Scott removed Ayala from a high-profile police murder case last week after she announced her decision against the death penalty. Ayala argues Scott has overstepped his bounds and filed a motion in response, asking a judge to let her present her argument in court.

    https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/ma...o-nixes-death/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #15
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Petition for The Removal of Aramis Ayala as State Attorney of the 9th Judicial Circuit in Florida

    9th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Aramis Ayala refuses to follow the law with regard to the current Florida Statute of enforcing the Death Penalty in the State of Florida under Chapter 921 of the Florida Statute. Specifically, Markeith Loyd was indicted on 11 counts, including murder, firearm and other charges in the December 13 death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon and the January 9 death of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton. The released video shows Markeith Loyd shooting Debra Clayton in the head after she was lying on the ground injured due to other gun shot wounds caused by Loyd. Today, March 16, 2017, State Attorney Aramis Ayala held a press conference announcing her office would not seek the death penalty because of financial considerations (a policy not a law) in this case. She further stated that she would rescind the death penalty determinations made on five other pending cases. This affects the public and private citizens in this circuit of Orange and Osceola Counties. This is unconscionable. This is a dereliction of duty. Governor Rick Scott should immediately remove her as the State Attorney in this Circuit.

    https://www.change.org/p/rick-scott-...etition-no_msg
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #16
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Judge denies Ayala's motion in Loyd case

    A judge has denied State Attorney Aramis Ayala's motion to remain on the Markeith Loyd case.

    The fight over whether Gov. Scott can take away an officer-killing case from a prosecutor because she no longer will seek the death penalty was back in court Tuesday.

    Ayala made her case during a status hearing in the case of Loyd, who's charged with murdering Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton and his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon.

    Gov. Rick Scott took the case away from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala earlier this month after she announced she wouldn't seek the death penalty in Loyd's case or any future cases.

    The governor reassigned the case to State Attorney Brad King who works in a neighboring district.

    Ayala argued that the governor doesn't have the authority to remove her. Ayala's attorney said Scott overstepped his boundaries, and asked that Ayala be the attorney in her own courthouse.

    King said he's now the authorized prosecutor for the case.

    Loyd spoke up during the hearing saying Scott removed Ayala from the case with cause.

    Loyd's next court appearance is scheduled fro April 3.

    http://www.wesh.com/article/police-c...online/9194966
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  7. #17
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    House and Senate want to cut Orlando prosecutor's budget over death penalty comments

    State lawmakers are trying to cut the budget of State Attorney Aramis Ayala, the Orlando-area prosecutor who said she would not pursue the death penalty while in office.

    In initial budget proposals released Monday and Tuesday, the House and Senate committees responsible for funding Florida's criminal justice system put forward a plan to cut more than $1 million and 21 staff positions.

    The House budget proposes a $1.3 million cut that it would set aside as "a lump sum ... for state attorneys to access as necessary to cover additional costs associate with reassigned death penalty cases."

    Gov. Rick Scott has already reassigned one case -- the prosecution of Markeith Loyd, accused of murdering Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton, as well as his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon -- to another state attorney, Brad King.

    The Senate proposes a $1.5 million cut.

    According to the Orlando Sentinel, state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, had promised to push for the cuts.

    Ayala spokeswoman Eryka Washington said that "99.9 percent" of the cases handled by the state attorney's office in Orange and Osceola counties are not death cases.

    This isn't the first move legislative leaders have made to push back against Ayala since she said earlier this month she would not seek the death penalty.

    Last Wednesday, House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, and Reps. Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, and Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, in a letter asked Scott to suspend Ayala from office.

    "When Ms. Ayala personally weighed various policy considerations and unilaterally determined that the death penalty would not be sought in any murder case brought in her circuit, Ms. Ayala unconditionally assumed the mantle of policy maker and disregarded her duty to exercise discretion based on the facts of each case," they wrote.

    Corcoran asked Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, to sign onto the letter, as well, but Negron refused.

    "The Senate president was not planning to, given the Senate's role if the governor suspends the state attorney," spokeswoman Katie Betta said.

    Under the state Constitution, Scott can only suspend Ayala. The Senate alone has the power to remove her from office, following a trial in the Senate.

    Scott's office has not indicated that it intends to do anything beyond reassigning the Loyd case. Last week, Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said "We are reviewing our options."

    http://miamiherald.typepad.com/naked...-comments.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #18
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Rafael Zaldivar, left, holds a picture of his son


    Families of Violent Crime Victims call on Aramis Ayala to be removed after Markeith Loyd Death Sentence Decision


    By Frank Torres
    Orlando Political Observer

    Family members of victims of violent crime were out front of the Orange County Courthouse on Thursday morning, calling on Orange Osceola County State Attorney Aramis Ayala to be removed from office after she announced she would not be seeking the death penalty in the Markeith Loyd case or any other cases.

    “For her to make a blanket statement to no longer seek the death penalty is a slap in the face to survivors of homicide and their loved ones everywhere.” said Steve Zellers, a former witness coordinator with the State Attorney’s office and violent crime survivor.

    Loyd is accused of murdering OPD Lieutenant Debra Clayton and his former girlfriend Sade Dixon, who was pregnant at the time of her death. Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Norm Lewis was also killed during the manhunt for Loyd.

    Former Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary hired Lewis and slammed Ayala’s decision saying “You don’t get to pick and choose what crimes you get to make cases of.”

    Since her decision Florida Governor Rick Scott has pulled Ayala from the case and reassigned it to Lake County State Attorney Brad King.

    Earlier Thursday morning, supporters for Aramis Ayala loaded buses bound for Tallahassee, where they would protest and call on Rick Scott to put Ayala back on the Loyd case. Supporters of Ayala say the Governor’s actions were unlawful and unconstitutional.

    Participants at the press conference questioned where the resources to bus the protesters up to Tallahassee were coming from and speculated that it could possibly be tied to campaign contributions made by Democratic Campaign Donor George Soros, who holds strong positions against the death penalty.

    “Free lunches and a bus ride? Who pays for that?” asked Rafael Zaldivar, father of Alex Zaldivar, who was murdered in 2012. “Obviously, Ayala is ‘hugs for thugs’ that’s what she’s all about.”

    http://orlando-politics.com/2017/03/...ence-decision/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #19
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Opinion:

    Our opinion: Personal beliefs don’t trump official duties

    Tallahassee Democrat

    Suppose FSU had a professor who just didn’t like Shakespeare, so he just decided to boycott The Bard.

    And what if we had an editor here at the paper who truly believed the First Amendment is over-rated, so she stifled stories the government might not like. Or maybe your doctor tells you that you’re not getting enough tar and nicotine.

    You wouldn’t necessarily want to fire those folks, or interfere with their right to express their beliefs, but neither would you want to rely on them for anything important.

    That’s how we feel about State Attorney Aramis Ayala, the Orange-Osceola County prosecutor who last month refused to seek death sentences in all murder cases. She had a good reason – believing that capital punishment is not a deterrent and that there’s no way to fairly impose it – but public officials are not entitled to put personal moral beliefs ahead of doing their job.

    All of their job.

    Gov. Rick Scott appointed a neighboring state attorney to take over the prosecution of Markeith Loyd, who is accused of killing, in separate instances, his pregnant ex-girlfriend and an Orlando policewoman who tried to arrest him. He was at large for several days and, given the ghastly cruelty of his crimes, Loyd was a feared and hated fugitive during the manhunt that culminated in his live-TV capture.

    You don’t have to take a scientific poll to assume that, except for hardcore opponents of capital punishment, residents of the 9th judicial circuit want Loyd to face the ultimate punishment if he is convicted. That’s why, when Ayala announced on March 16 she would not seek the death penalty, there was an immediate and furious backlash from fellow state attorneys around Florida, police organizations, legislators and the governor himself.

    Scott promptly removed her from the Loyd case. Ayala went to court, seeking reinstatement, but Orange County Judge Frederick Lauten last Monday ruled Scott was well within his executive authority to assign another state attorney.

    This isn’t about supporting or opposing the death penalty, a legal and political argument that has gone on for ages and will not end in our lifetimes. It’s about a prosecutor substituting her own beliefs for the law, and a governor’s desire to see the law applied as written.

    State Attorney Brad King, whom Scott sent to Orlando to prosecute Loyd, started out by reviewing evidence and said he would decide whether to make it a capital case.

    Ayala has drawn support from a wide array of legal authorities, not just death penalty opponents. Scott received protests from distinguished lawyers and retired jurists, warning that the principle of prosecutorial discretion is an important tenet of the legal system.

    If Ayala can be punished for not seeking the toughest possible penalty for a despised defendant today, some other prosecutor can be punished tomorrow for going too hard on some popular public figure who gets in a jam. A death sentence should no more be sought to appease a mob, baying for blood, than it should be shunned on the personal opinion – however sincerely arrived at – of an attorney elected to represent that mob, and everyone else.

    There’s a reason the lady with the sword and the scales wears a blindfold.

    If it was just the Loyd case, Ayala’s decision would be defensible as a tough, unpopular, even courageous, defiance of the public will. Loyd disrupted pre-trial hearings with obscene rants, and there is reasonable doubt about his mental competency – a point sure to be raised later.

    But Ayala said she won’t seek death sentences in any murders, no matter how revolting. That’s like a carpenter vowing never to use a hammer. Or, more precisely, a lawyer substituting personal belief for the rule of law.

    One of Florida’s finest governors, LeRoy Collins, was personally opposed to the death penalty. But during the six years he was governor, Florida carried out 29 executions. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down capital punishment nationwide in 1972, Collins returned to the Capitol and urged then-Gov. Reubin Askew not to seek its reinstatement – which Askew did, after prayerful nights of personal anguish.

    Askew reasoned that some killings are so gruesome, so horribly inhuman, that nothing short of a death sentence can level the scales of justice. We can’t know what Askew would think of the Loyd case, but the circumstances of those killings seem to meet the extreme criteria spelled out in the death statute.

    That law, incidentally, has been reworked constantly by the courts and the Legislature over the past 40-plus years. Several years ago, the state switched from electrocution to lethal injection, thought to be less painful. Just last month – forced by the State Supreme Court – legislators mandated unanimous jury recommendations for death sentences.

    That’s not good enough for millions of Floridians who believe capital punishment is always unconstitutional, not to mention morally indefensible. Obviously, that number includes 200 or so protestors who converged on the Capitol last Thursday in a demonstration calling for Scott to leave Ayala alone.

    She did not mention her opposition to the death penalty in her successful campaign to oust State Attorney Jeff Ashton in the Democratic primary last year. In her news conference announcing her Loyd decision, Ayala said capital punishment didn’t come up during the campaign and, well, voters know about her opposition now.

    Oh, please – she had to have known she’d lose the election if she’d stated such a position. If it’s vindictive for Scott to remove her from the Loyd case now, it was deceptive – even dishonest – for her not to tell voters then that she intended to carry out only those laws she personally approves.

    http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opi...ties/99871914/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #20
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    Gov. Rick Scott reassigns 21 murder cases, citing Aramis Ayala's death penalty stance

    By Gray Rohrer, Rene Stutzman and Gal Tziperman Lotan
    The Orlando Sentinel

    TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Rick Scott on Monday took away 21 more first-degree murder cases from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala because she refuses to seek the death penalty.

    All of them will be handled by State Attorney Brad King, who serves Lake, Marion and three other counties.

    The move comes three weeks after Scott removed Ayala from the case of accused cop killer Markeith Loyd, following a dramatic public announcement.

    On March 16 Ayala had stepped to a podium in front of the Orange County Courthouse and said she would not seek the death penalty against Loyd or anyone else.
    Scott was outraged.

    A few hours later, he phoned her, asking her to step back from that case, but she refused. Later that day, he signed an executive order, naming King special prosecutor.

    That decision made Ayala a darling of death penalty opponents but set off both pro- and anti-Ayala demonstrations in Orlando and Tallahassee.

    Monday’s action by the governor — 21 separate orders — was an extension of his earlier decision.

    Six of the cases involve murder defendants who have not yet come to trial. The others have already been sentenced to death and have cases on appeal.

    In a prepared statement, Scott said he made Monday’s decision, “in the interest of justice.”

    “Each of these cases I am reassigning represents a horrific loss of life. The families who tragically lost someone deserve a state attorney who will take the time to review every individual fact and circumstance before making such an impactful decision,” he said.

    Ayala was in Tallahassee on Monday, meeting with legislators — not the Governor - according to her spokeswoman, Eryka Washington.

    “Ms. Ayala remains steadfast in her position that the Governor is abusing his authority and has compromised the independence and integrity of the criminal justice system,” Washington said in a prepared statement.

    Ayala was in court last week with a Tampa lawyer she had hired to challenge the Governor’s decision to remove her from the Loyd case.

    King and his top assistant, Ric Ridgway, were in Orlando Monday morning for a hearing in the Loyd case. Ridgway said they found out about the new cases at 12:30 p.m.

    “You didn’t have to be a psychic to see that this was a possibility,” he said. “It was kind of obvious that something like this might happen.”

    His office has not determined yet how to handle the new workload. It has five attorneys qualified to handle death penalty cases, he said.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi has offered to loan some of her lawyers, he said.

    State Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, condemned Scott’s decision.

    “I think he’s overstepping his authority,.” he said. “She’s been independently elected. … He’s taking away the authority that she was given by the people.”

    Rep. Sean Shaw, D-Tampa, a member of the Legislature’s black caucus, also criticized Scott’s decision, writing in a statement: “The Governor is attempting to set a dangerous precedent that would destroy the idea of independence for State Attorneys throughout Florida who must now fear political retribution … if they make a decision he disagrees with.”

    The 21 cases

    Six of the newly reassigned cases involve defendants who are awaiting trial. They including Larry Perry, accused of beating his infant son to death in St. Cloud; and Juan Rosario, charged with beating his 83-year-old neighbor to death then setting her house on fire.

    When Ayala’s predecessor, Jeff Ashton, was in office, prosecutors had announced plans to pursue the death penalty in all six.

    Monday’s other reassignments involve killers who’ve already been convicted. Eight from that group are likely to win appeals because jurors did not vote unanimously for the death penalty.

    They included death row inmate John Huggins, convicted of murdering Carla Larson, an engineer who disappeared from a Publix near Walt Disney World in 1997, and was strangled; Jermaine “Bugsy” Lebron, convicted of murdering a 22-year-old Belle Isle man in Osceola County in 1995 so he could steal the man’s red pickup; and David Sylvester Frances, accused of killing a woman and her teenage niece.

    Notably absent from the list of 21 were the two defendants most recently sent to death row from Orange County.

    They are Bessman Okafor, convicted of killing Alex Zaldivar, a 19-year-old who was set to testify against him in a home invasion trial; and Dane Abdool, who was convicted of burning his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend to death in 2006.

    Loyd, 41, is accused of murdering Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton in a Wal-Mart parking lot Jan. 9 as she tried to chase him down and arrest him on a murder warrant.

    That warrant was for the shooting death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, who was killed Dec. 13.

    An Orange County grand jury indicted him on murder charges in both cases.

    King has not said what penalty he will seek in either case.

    State Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, has urged members of the Florida House to slash Ayala’s budget because of her position on the death penalty.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...403-story.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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