Current:Home > MarketsFor the second time, DeSantis suspends a state attorney, claims she has a 'political agenda'-LoTradeCoin
For the second time, DeSantis suspends a state attorney, claims she has a 'political agenda'
View Date:2024-12-23 19:38:04
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has again suspended a democratically elected state attorney, claiming her personal "political agenda" was interfering with her role prosecuting criminal cases for the state.
DeSantis announced State Attorney Monique Worrell's suspension Wednesday at Florida's capitol building, while taking a rare step away from his presidential campaign. Worrell was the elected prosecutor for Orange and Osceola counties
In his announcement, DeSantis contended Worrell failed to pursue appropriate charges in serious criminal cases during her time as a state attorney.
“Prosecutors have a duty to faithfully enforce the law,” said DeSantis, while flanked by Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass. “One’s political agenda cannot trump this solemn duty.”
In February, DeSantis' general counsel demanded Worrell turn over emails, reports and documents related to a 19-year-old man accused of killing three people in Orlando, including a television reporter. The governor had criticized Worrell's earlier prosecutions of the suspect, Keith Moses, who had a record of arrests as a juvenile and was on probation when he allegedly went on a shooting spree.
The governor named Andrew Bain, an Orange County judge, to serve as state attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit in Worrell's absence.
DeSantis, whose bid for the Republican presidential nomination has been faltering, took no questions following his announcement. Worrell's suspension comes a day after DeSantis' latest overhaul of his problem-plagued presidential campaign. On Tuesday, he replaced his campaign manager, Generra Peck, with his governor's office chief of staff, James Uthmeier, as he continues to trail far behind the Republican front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
Last year DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren
Last year, DeSantis removed State Attorney Andrew Warren, a twice elected Democrat in Tampa, after he signed pledges saying that he would not push for criminal charges against seekers or providers of abortion or gender-affirming health care, along with policies that diminish the prospect of charges for certain low-level crimes.
Warren fought back with a federal lawsuit in September, challenging his removal from office. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in January ruled the suspension violated the Florida Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. Hinkle, however, said he lacked the authority to reinstate the prosecutor.
Worrell accused DeSantis in April of pursuing a "witch-hunt to establish a basis for the removal of another duly-elected prosecutor” after she learned that a Central Florida Republican Party official was seeking prosecution data from her office regarding human-trafficking cases.
Who is Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell?
Worrell had been under fire from Central Florida law enforcement and caught DeSantis’ eye for declining to bring more serious charges in several high-profile shootings and other violent crimes.
Worrell was elected with 67% of the vote in 2020 in Orange and Osceola counties. Worrell, who is Black, succeeded Aramis Ayala, who had been the first Black state attorney ever elected in Florida.
Ayala clashed with DeSantis’ predecessor over her refusal to seek the death penalty in capital cases, prompting then-Gov. Rick Scott to reassign more than two dozen cases. Ayala, also a Democrat, last year unsuccessfully challenged Moody, the Republican attorney general, who Wednesday stood by DeSantis and made a case against Worrell.
Moody said Worrell dismissed more than 16,000 charges against defendants over the past year, more than any other Florida state attorney. She said the dismissals stand out, being four times the number of dismissals in Palm Beach County, where another Democrat, Dave Aronberg, serves.
“Officers may arrest you, they risk your lives arresting you. But if you’re in the 9th Circuit, nearly half the time, the state attorney will not follow through,” Moody said. “That is incredibly dangerous to people in the 9th Circuit.”
veryGood! (81884)
Related
- 'Serial swatter': 18-year-old pleads guilty to making nearly 400 bomb threats, mass shooting calls
- Alexey Navalny's message to the world if they decide to kill me, and what his wife wants people to do now
- Jeremy Renner Makes Rare Appearance at 2024 People's Choice Awards After Past Year's Heck of a Journey
- See The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Cast Shut Down the Red Carpet With Fashionable Reunion
- How Jersey Shore's Sammi Sweetheart Giancola's Fiancé Justin May Supports Her on IVF Journey
- Celebrate Presidents Day by learning fun, interesting facts about US presidents
- Navalny’s widow vows to continue his fight against the Kremlin and punish Putin for his death
- Rain pushes Daytona 500 to Monday in first outright postponement since 2012
- Tuskegee University closes its campus to the public, fires security chief after shooting
- NBA All-Star Game highlights: East dazzles in win over West as Damian Lillard wins MVP
Ranking
- Should Georgia bench Carson Beck with CFP at stake against Tennessee? That's not happening
- 'Bob Marley: One Love' overperforms at No. 1, while 'Madame Web' bombs at box office
- Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella shares health update after chemo: 'Everything hurts'
- California again braces for flooding as another wet winter storm hits the state
- California teen pleads guilty in Florida to making hundreds of ‘swatting’ calls across the US
- Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling Reunite at the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards
- Former President George W. Bush receives blinged out chain at SMU basketball game
- Ex-YouTube CEO’s son dies at UC Berkeley campus, according to officials, relative
Recommendation
-
Stressing over Election Day? Try these apps and tools to calm your nerves
-
Convicted killer who fled from a Phoenix-area halfway house is back in custody 4 days later
-
Pioneering Skier Kasha Rigby Dead in Avalanche at 54
-
You’ll Choose And Love This Grey’s Anatomy People’s Choice Awards Reunion
-
What Happened to Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Character? John Dutton’s Fate Revealed
-
Louisiana’s crime-focused special legislative session begins
-
As the homeless crisis worsens, unhoused people in these rural areas remain 'invisible'
-
2024 People’s Choice Awards Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Look as the Stars Arrive