According to the Associated Press, the brief, which was filed Friday morning, supports Ayala in her decision not to seek the death penalty and states that Florida Gov. Rick Scott has no authority to interfere with her cases.
Earlier this month, Scott removed Ayala from 23 death penalty cases after she announced in March that she would not use her prosecutorial discretion to seek the death penalty for murder suspect Markeith Loyd, or any other case.
Ayala, Florida’s first African American State Attorney, has since filed two lawsuits against Scott in both the Florida Supreme Court and in the federal court of the Middle District of Florida.
As we previously reported, in the state court case, Ayala is asking the governor to prove what constitutional authority allowed him to remove her from her cases. Scott has said he removed Ayala because she “won’t fight for justice.”
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a noose mailed to Ayala’s office. The noose was accompanied with a white piece of paper with the message, “SOONER OR LATER A NIGGER WILL BE A NIGGER” in black block letters.
Related Stories
This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2017.
