Florida Supreme Court Rules Against State Attorney Aramis Ayala on Death Penalty Cases

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced she has organized a death penalty review panel to look at first-degree murder cases after the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Gov. Rick Scott has the authority to take death penalty cases away from her.

“With implementation of this Panel, it is my expectation that going forward all first-degree murder cases that occur in my jurisdiction will remain in my office and be evaluated and prosecuted accordingly," Ayala said in a statement.

Ayala announced in March that she will not seek the death penalty in any case. Supreme Court Justice C. Alan Lawson cited the catch-all policy in an opinion released Thursday (pdf), declining to give Ayala's office 29 death penalty cases that Scott assigned to another prosecutor using executive orders.

Ayala did not immediately say who the seven prosecutors will be, or if the death penalty will be a possibility they consider.

“Far from being unreasoned or arbitrary ... the reassignments are predicated upon ‘good and sufficient reason,’ namely Ayala’s blanket refusal to pursue the death penalty in any case despite Florida law establishing the death penalty as an appropriate sentence under certain circumstances,” Lawson wrote.

The court was split 5-2, with Justices Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince dissenting.

“The Governor’s decision in this case fundamentally undermines the constitutional role of duly elected State Attorneys,” Quince wrote.

Scott called the decision a “great victory.”

“Crimes like these are pure evil and deserve the absolute full consideration of punishment – something that State Attorney Ayala completely ruled out,” Scott said in a statement. “She unilaterally decided to not stand on the side of victims and their families, which is completely sickening. In Florida, we hold criminals fully accountable for the crimes they commit – especially those that attack our law enforcement community and innocent children.”

Ayala, who took office in January, announced March 16 that she will not seek the death penalty for anyone as the region’s top prosecutor. She said research showed the death penalty was unevenly applied, put families through decades-long ordeals, and did not deter serious crimes, among other reasons.

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Source: Orlando Sentinel, Gal Tziperman Lotan, August 31, 2017

FADP Statement on Florida Supreme Court Denial of Aramis Ayala's Petition

On Thursday, August 31, The Florida Supreme Court denied Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Aramis Ayala's petition for return of potential death penalty cases removed from her jurisdiction by Executive Order of Gov. Rick Scott. 

The State Attorney's office handles cases in Orange and Osceola Counties. Ayala has announced the formation of a Death Penalty Review Panel.

Responding to the ruling, Mark Elliott, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty stated:

"Today's ruling does not deny the truth of Aramis Ayala's criticisms of Florida's chaotic and fatally-flawed death penalty: that it's much harder on victim's families, wastes precious crime-fighting dollars, and does nothing to make Floridians and their families safer. FADP supports the initial decision of State Attorney Aramis Ayala as both smart and tough on crime."

"State Attorney Ayala demonstrated her steadfast devotion to the safety and well-being of Florida families by shifting the focus to bringing more criminals to justice and preventing violent crimes. Expensive, wasteful, and time-consuming death penalty show trials do nothing to prevent violent crime or help victim's families in immediate and meaningful ways."

"Death penalty trials squander huge amounts of limited criminal justice dollars. Trying to obtain death sentences and resentences could cost Florida taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over and above the cost of sentencing those same people to life in prison with no parole."

Court records indicate that in the 8 years prior to Ayala's taking office, her jurisdiction had a total of 1 new death sentence - Bessman Okafor, November 17, 2015. The previous death sentence was for Dane Abdool, May 12, 2008.

"Only 1 new death sentence in 8 years refutes the arguments of Gov. Scott that using the death penalty is critical for justice. It makes no sense that, only now, not using death sentencing by policy or practice creates an emergency and is 'good and sufficient reason' to reassign cases."

Source: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Mark Elliott, Executive Director, Sept. 1, 2017

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde