Ayala rescinds her death-penalty ban
Attorney names panel to review murder cases
After a months-long legal fight, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala on Friday walked back her ban on pursuing the death penalty, saying a panel of seven assistant state attorneys will review all future first-degree murder cases and seek capital punishment when appropriate.
The details of the plan came a day after the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gov. Rick Scott by declining to return 29 capital cases to her office. He used his executive orders to transfer them after she announced in March that she would not seek the death penalty for anyone.
“My personal opinion, the facts of the case, none of that changes,” Ayala said Friday. “...[What] the Supreme Court believes and [how] they interpret the law in a way that may be
different from how I interpret it, it is absolutely up to me to abide by that regardless of how I interpret the research and the data.”
It is unclear how much Ayala’s legal battle against Scott cost taxpayers, which included Ayala hiring outside legal counsel. Spokeswoman Eryka Washington said she was not able to get a final estimate Friday and expected to have the amount by Tuesday.
Scott’s office declined to say Friday whether he will keep future first-degree murder cases in Ayala’s office.
“We will continue to review the details that come out of the state attorney’s office, but the governor must be convinced that the death penalty will be sought as outlined in Florida law, when appropriate,” spokesman John Tupps said. “The governor will always stand with crime victims and their families.”
She declined to say what she thought about Scott’s actions.
“My job here is to follow the law, not to interpret his conduct,” Ayala said.
She also announced the members of the panel.
The prosecutors are Chief Assistant State Attorney Deborah Barra; Kenneth Nunnelley, who was in charge of many death penalty cases under Ayala’s predecessor, Jeff Ashton; Kelly Hicks; Candra Moore; Gabrielle Sanders; and Chris Smith. The prosecutors all work for Ayala’s office.
The seventh member of the panel will be the prosecutor assigned to each case, who will meet with victims’ families. If all seven panel members agree that the death penalty is legally appropriate and feasible, they will pursue it, Ayala said.
Each member has pursued the death penalty before and has not expressed opposition to the death penalty, Ayala said. Two of them — Barra and Nunnelley — prosecuted the Orange-Osceola death penalty cases that have gone to trial under Ocala-based State Attorney Brad King in recent months, going against Ayala’s policy.
Ayala said she does not intend to seek the 29 cases back because she does not want a “ping-pong” effect to affect victims and their families. Two of those cases have gone to trial since March, with both defendants being found guilty and jurors unanimously recommending the death penalty.
“I don’t think it is in the best interest of families of homicide victims or their cases at this point,” Ayala said. “There’s a difference between giving up and letting go. At this time I think the most compassionate and human response is to allow them to remain with the current prosecutor.”
Ayala critic Rafael Zaldivar, whose son Alex was murdered in 2012, attended her press conference on the Orange County Courthouse steps Friday morning.
“You can see the faces on these folks back here, they have to do her dirty work. And it’s a shame that she has to put them in that kind of position,” Zaldivar said. “...She says she’s recused herself from that panel, but that’s ridiculous. So what do we need an SA [state attorney] for?”
The man convicted of killing Alex Zaldivar, Bessman Okafor, had his nonunanimous death sentence overturned and will face a new jury to determine whether he will be sentenced to life in prison or death. The case was reassigned from Ayala’s office and will remain with Ocalabased prosecutor King.
In the Supreme Court of Florida opinion, Justice C. Alan Lawson said the blanket policy to avoid the death penalty under any circumstance gave Scott a “good and sufficient” reason to reassign the cases. The justices ruled each first degree murder case must be reviewed before a determination about the death penalty is made.
“There’s a difference between giving up and letting go. At this time I think the most compassionate and human response is to allow them to remain with the current prosecutor.” Aramis Ayala