RICHARD L. SCOTT
v.
RON DESANTIS
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A criminal defendant challenged the reassignment of his prosecution from State Attorney Aramis Ayala to State Attorney Brad King, arguing the Governor exceeded his authority and violated constitutional rights. The court denied the petition for writ of quo warranto, finding itself bound by prior Florida Supreme Court precedent holding the Governor's reassignment authority was constitutional.
The Governor did not exceed his statutory authority in reassigning the cases, and the reassignment did not violate state or federal constitutional provisions. The court was bound by the Florida Supreme Court's prior holding in Ayala v. Scott that the reassignment fell within the Governor's broad authority based on the State Attorney's blanket refusal to pursue the death penalty.
[1] State Attorneys possess broad discretion in deciding whether and how to prosecute a case, including the determination of whether to seek the death penalty.
[2] Governors may possess the authority to reassign prosecution cases under certain circumstances, provided such actions fall within the bounds of their statutory authority.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“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”
Establishes the Florida Supreme Court's prior justification for the Governor's authority to reassign cases based on the State Attorney's categorical refusal to seek death penalty sentences
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceState Attorney Aramis Ayala announced a blanket policy of not pursuing the death penalty in any cases in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Governor Scott re…
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RICHARD L. SCOTT, as former Governor of the State of Florida, and RON DESANTIS, as Governor of the State of Florida,
Respondent. ______________________________/
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF QUO WARRANTO
This matter came before the Court for consideration of the Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto, filed May 14, 2019. After reviewing the Petition together with Governor DeSantis’ Response to Order to Show Cause and Motion to Dismiss, filed June 25, 2019, the Court finds as follows. Petitioner moved for an Order directing Respondents to show by what authority they replaced and continue to authorize the replacement of State Attorney Aramis Ayala with State Attorney Brad King in Petitioner’s prosecution. He acknowledges the Florida Supreme Court has ruled in Ayala v. Scott, 224 So. 3d 755, 758 (Fla. 2017), that “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,” but argues that State Attorney Ayala had first independently analyzed all of the circumstances surrounding the cases and reached the separate conclusion not to pursue the death penalty before she determined that there would be a blanket policy with respect to other homicide cases then pending in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Petitioner asserts: 1. The Florida Constitution vests State Attorneys with complete discretion in deciding whether and how to prosecute a case, including the determination of whether or not to seek the death penalty.
2. Governor Scott’s actions violated Mr. Loyd’s right to due process and equal protection under the provisions of the Florida Constitution and violated the Due Process provisions, equal protection provisions and the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Therefore, Petitioner asks this Court to nullify the Respondent’s orders, direct that State Attorney Ayala is the prosecutor on his cases, and strike the Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty filed by State Attorney Brad King.
Respondents argue Petitioner cannot establish that Governor Scott exceeded his authority by reassigning the homicide cases or that Governor DeSantis is exceeding his authority by permitting the assignment to continue, and assert that reassignment did not violate the Constitutions of Florida or the United States Quo warranto is the proper vehicle for the State Attorney to challenge Respondents’ executive orders reassigning the prosecution of pending death penalty cases to another State Attorney. Ayala v. Scott, 224 So. 3d at 757. However, the Florida Supreme Court clearly held that Governor Scott did not exceed his statutory authority in doing so. Id. This Court concludes it is bound by the controlling authority set forth in that opinion, which held that the reassignment of Ninth Judicial Circuit cases, including those of Petitioner, fell “well within the bounds of the Governor’s broad authority.” Id. at 758. The fact that State Attorney Ayala elected not to pursue the death penalty in Petitioner’s case before publicly announcing her blanket policy not to seek the death penalty in any Ninth Judicial Circuit case does not change this conclusion. Therefore, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto is hereby DENIED.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Orlando, Orange County, Florida, this _______ day of July 2019.