Florida governor replaces anti-death
penalty prosecutor
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[March 17, 2017]
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida
Governor Rick Scott on Thursday replaced a local prosecutor who declared
she would not seek the death penalty in a case against a man accused of
killing an Orlando police officer and refused to recuse herself.
In an executive order, Scott removed State Attorney Aramis Ayala, the
elected prosecutor in central Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, and
reassigned the murder case to State Attorney Brad King of the nearby
Fifth Judicial Circuit.
Ayala, at a news conference earlier on Thursday, said Florida's death
penalty system was the cause of "legal chaos" and said she would not
seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd, charged in the Jan. 9
shooting of the policewoman. He was arrested after an intensive manhunt
that drew widespread attention.
The statement by Ayala, who took office early this year, outraged law
enforcement groups, some state lawmakers and State Attorney General Pam
Bondi. But several groups, including Amnesty International USA and the
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, rose to her defense.
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"She has made it clear that she will not fight for justice and that is
why I am using my executive authority to immediately reassign the case
to State Attorney Brad King," Scott said in a statement.
After a discussion with Scott on Thursday afternoon, Ayala issued a
statement saying she offered to have "a full conversation" about her
decision, but he "declined to explore my reasoning."
"Upon receipt of any lawful order, my office will follow that order and
fully cooperate to ensure the successful prosecution of Markeith Loyd,"
she said.
Florida's governor signed legislation on Monday tightening state law to
require a unanimous recommendation by a jury before judges can impose
the death penalty.
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![](../images/031717pics/news_h15.jpg)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott
speaks at a press conference about the Zika virus in Doral, Florida,
U.S. on August 4, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
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The law is the state's latest effort to restart its death penalty
process, which was put on hold twice last year after rulings by the
U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court in separate cases.
Loyd was arrested on Jan. 7 after a nine-day manhunt that followed
the shooting death of Orlando police Master Sargent Debra Clayton.
At the time, Loyd was already a suspect in the murder of his
pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, in December.
Florida prisons hold 382 people who have been sentenced to die. Some
have been on death row since the 1970s because the process of
appealing death penalty verdicts can take decades.
(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York and Letitia Stein in Tampa,
Florida; Editing by Richard Chang)
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