A divided appeals court
upholds the constitutionality of a 2015 decision by Gov. Rick Scott to veto $2,000 pay raises that lawmakers had included in the budget for state firefighters.
The Florida Supreme Court’s clerk scheduled oral arguments in the case of OrangeOsceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, who sued Gov. Rick Scott after he re-assigned death penalty cases from her office.
The oral arguments are scheduled for June 28 at 9 a.m., according to a notice filed with the Florida Supreme Court. Each side will have up to 20 minutes to make its case.
Ayala, who took office in January, announced in March that she will not seek the death penalty for anyone during her tenure. Scott responded by reassigning the case of Markeith Loyd, accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend and an Orlando police officer, to State Attorney Brad King of Ocala.
Scott then signed executive orders re-assigning another 22 death penalty cases to King’s office — some that had not yet gone to trial and some where the defendants were sentenced to death years ago but not executed.
Ayala sued, saying that Scott does not have the proper authority to take the cases away from her office.
King’s office has been handling the cases with help from some assistant state attorneys borrowed from Ayala’s office.
On Friday, a jury in Orange County unanimously recommended a death sentence for Juan Rosario, convicted in the murder of an 83-year-old woman and the arson of her home.