美国国家公共电台 NPR Cases Pulled For Refusing The Death Penalty, Attorney Sues To Get Them Back

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now a legal dispute over the death penalty in Florida that's turned into a political standoff. The Florida Supreme¹ Court must decide whether Governor Rick Scott has the authority to remove cases from a state attorney who refuses to seek capital punishment. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE²: This case is about power and where it resides, with the locally elected prosecutor³ in Orlando or in Tallahassee with the governor. When State Attorney Aramis Ayala, a Democrat⁴, announced in March that she would no longer seek the death penalty in capital cases, Republican Governor Rick Scott took away 22 murder cases in her jurisdiction⁵. Now Ayala is suing Scott to get them back. Ayala, who took office in January, is the first black elected prosecutor in Florida. She says she's decided⁶ that the death penalty is broken and does not achieve justice.

ARAMIS AYALA: I have the freedom to make the decision and utilize⁷ discretion⁸ that is granted to me by the Constitution and the openness that the statute⁹ allows. There is no statute that requires me to seek death.

ELLIOTT: Ayala says local prosecutors¹⁰ make such judgment¹¹ calls all the time, including what charges to bring, what sentences to seek and whether to make plea deals. But one of the cases in question was the high-profile double murder of a pregnant woman and an Orlando police officer, the first case Governor Scott reassigned to a different state attorney. Ayala says he's overriding¹² her authority as a prosecutor.

AYALA: It's very clear that the governor is attacking the independence of the prosecutors. He does have power, but it's an overreach of his power.

ELLIOTT: Scott stands by his decision. He cites state law that gives the governor the ability to reassign cases for any, quote, "good and sufficient reason the governor determines that the ends of justice would be best served." Here's what Scott told the Florida Channel the day Ayala filed lawsuits¹³ in both state and federal court.

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RICK SCOTT: Every citizen deserves a state attorney that's going to fully¹⁴ prosecute¹⁵ cases. And so I'm going to continue to review cases and make sure that, you know, we always think about the victim.

ELLIOTT: State Representative Bob Cortes, a Republican from suburban¹⁶ Orlando, was among the first lawmakers to call for Governor Scott to remove Ayala from capital cases. He says she's stepping on the legislature's territory.

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BOB CORTES: By her dictating¹⁷ that she's not going to follow what we have set in parameters¹⁸ or law, she's actually rewriting the law. And that's the job reserved for the legislature.

ELLIOTT: And that's what the Florida House is arguing in a friend of the court brief filed with the Florida Supreme Court. Even Ayala's peers are siding with Governor Scott in a court filing. State Attorney Glenn Hess of Panama City is president of the Florida Prosecuting¹⁹ Attorneys Association.

GLENN HESS: When you say I am not going to consider the death penalty in any case in my office, even though that is the law of the state of Florida, that is an abuse of discretion.

ELLIOTT: But more than two dozen prosecutors and judges from around the country are siding with Ayala and say prosecutorial²⁰ independence is at stake. Orlando Democrat Randolph Bracy is chair of the Florida Senate's Criminal Justice Committee. He says he doesn't necessarily agree with Ayala's position on the death penalty but affirms her right to make that call. Bracy says the governor's response sends a chilling message.

RANDOLPH BRACY: You've got the first black state attorney, and within a couple of months, she's removed from certain cases. I mean, I think there are a lot of people of color who take offense²¹ to how this was done.

ELLIOTT: Bracy says Ayala should be accountable to central Florida voters, not the governor. At issue is where a prosecutor's power begins and ends, according to Florida State University law professor Sandy D'Alemberte, a former president of the American Bar Association. He favors State Attorney Ayala in this fight.

SANDY D'ALEMBERTE: Where's the governor's power to displace the judgement of a prosecutor who's an elected prosecutor? In my opinion, honorable Governor Scott has gone beyond the scope of his power.

ELLIOTT: As the Florida Supreme Court takes up the issue, Ayala is facing political fallout as well. Lawmakers are planning to cut more than a million dollars and 21 jobs from Ayala's budget.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Tallahassee.