The controversy over Gov. Rick Scott's decision to yank Orange-Osceola prosecutor Aramis Ayala from the high-profile case of accused cop-killer Markeith Loyd continued to escalate Thursday when black lawmakers demanded that the governor rescind his order.
Scott reassigned the case of Loyd, accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and murdering Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton, to another prosecutor after Ayala announced last week she would not seek the death penalty for Loyd, or any other defendants during her time in office.
Ayala, the first black elected state attorney in Florida, told reporters last week she arrived at her decision not to seek the death penalty in any cases because "doing so is not in the best interest of this community or the best interest of justice."
Within hours, Scott reassigned the case to Ocala-based State Attorney Brad King, an outspoken proponent of the death penalty.
But a who's who of legal experts, including two former Florida Supreme Court chief justices, objected that Scott lacks the power to remove Ayala from the case. Ayala this week asked a court to rule on the issue, arguing that she, like other prosecutors, has broad discretion in deciding whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison in murder cases.
A number of predominantly African-American organizations, including the NAACP and the National Bar Association, have thrown their support behind Ayala, and on Thursday, the Florida Legislative Black Caucus joined in, accusing Scott of a "power grab."
"Unchecked and unchanged, Gov. Scott's hasty response to State Attorney Ayala's announcement sets a dangerous precedent and is a slap in the face to the voters who carried her into office," Sen. Perry Thurston, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who is chairman of the caucus, told reporters at a news conference. "Such executive action has never before been countenanced by the Florida electorate, and is unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny."
Equally troubling for some were the comments of Stan McCullers, a Seminole County clerk`s office employee who posted on his Facebook page that Ayala "should be tarred and feathered if not hung from a tree."
"It's 2017 and the newly elected state attorney was threatened with a lynching. That's why we're here today," state Rep. Sean Shaw, D-Tampa, said. "The death penalty is a link to the sordid past of Florida where lynching was used to terrorize our community."
McCullers has resigned, Seminole County Clerk and Comptroller Grant Maloy said in a Facebook post Wednesday.
Despite the furor, Scott has remained steadfast in his decision to boot Ayala off the Loyd case.
"Well, what doesn't make sense to me is, one, that you should always fully prosecute the law. That's what all of us expect out of our elected officials. That's one. This case in particular, it's just horrible," Scott told reporters in Orlando.
A handful of outraged Republican lawmakers have asked Scott to remove Ayala from office for refusing to pursue the death penalty.
"My office is reviewing what our options are, and we'll figure that out down the road," Scott reiterated Thursday.
SHOWDOWN ON GUN BILLS?
Controversial pro-gun bills might continue to face death in a divided Senate Judiciary Committee, but the chairman doesn't intend to let them go quietly.
Judiciary Chairman Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican who has been among the leading proponents of Second Amendment rights since joining the Legislature in 2010, said he will eventually take up a major gun bill in his committee.
That could be a proposal (SB 644) that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to openly carry firearms; a proposal (SB 622) that would allow them to carry weapons on college or university campuses; or an even more wide-ranging measure by Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
"At some point it will be my intention to either bring up Sen. Baxley's bill that has all the gun-free zones or one of the bills that I have and let the committee decide where they're at on it," Steube said Wednesday.
He added that in recent years, "this committee had basically refused to hear some of these bills. ... I'm not going to keep some of these issues from being discussed, from being debated."
Steube has been able to move through his committee a controversial shift of the burden of proof in "stand your ground" self-defense cases (SB 128) and a couple of lesser expansions of where concealed-carry license holders may continue to pack heat --- up to the entrances of courthouses (SB 616) and at private religious schools (SB 1330).
However, Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, has tilted the committee against many of the big-ticket gun bills by declaring her opposition to bills such as the campus-carry and open-carry proposals.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: "Roasting @CFOJeffAtwater with @adamputnam at @Flchamber #capdays17 … we will miss you Jeff." --- Attorney General Pam Bondi after she and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam honored outgoing Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater at a Florida Chamber of Commerce event.
