In November, Florida elected its first-ever African-American prosecutor:
Orlando State Attorney Aramis Ayala—
thanks in part to $1.4-million in campaign donations from a group funded by
investment billionaire George Soros, a death penalty opponent.
In March, as Ayala faced her first major capital prosecution,
she made an announcement that shocked the community:
— After careful review and consideration of the new statute,
under my administration,
I will not be seeking death penalty in the cases handled in my office.
— Now, she’s at war with Florida Governor Rick Scott
over who gets to prosecute Florida’s most consequential cases.
— Aramis Ayala lives with her family in the Orlando suburbs.
She worked for nearly a decade as a public defender before switching to the prosecution side in 2014.
Then, she beat out her boss for the top job last year.
As one of just 20 state attorneys in Florida,
Ayala decides what penalties to seek in criminal cases.
— Good morning. — Hi, good morning.
— How are you? — Good!
— Why did you decide to make the blanket statement
that you would never pursue the death penalty?
— I never used the word “never” in my announcement.
I thought that it was important to let everyone know
that we have a problem in our death penalty system.
And until that is fixed, which I don't expect to be fixed anytime soon,
I have no intent on moving forward with death on any cases.
— This is a closeout letter for an executive order we did for Polk county…
So that’s gonna discharge us once you sign it off.
— The day after I took office,
there were rulings coming from the Supreme Court of Florida
dealing with the death penalty.
And it was at that point where I’m like, this thing is big.
Then, Monday morning, Lieutenant Clayton was killed.
— Tonight: Markeith Lloyd formally charged with first degree murder
in the death of Lieutenant Debra Clayton.
For nine days, Orlando police used every resource
to catch the 41-year-old accused cop killer.
— So right away, it hadn't even been a week in office,
and what most would perceive as a possible death penalty case hit my desk.
— Police say Markeith Lloyd killed Lieutenant Debra Clayton
after killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
— So why not just come out and say,
“I don't intend to seek it in the Markeith Lloyd case,”
and then quietly go about doing your job?
— The reason that I did not make a statement just about Markeith Lloyd is because,
number one, if I say that I'm not seeking it in Markeith Lloyd,
the next question is, “Well, if you're not seeking it in that,”
“then what would you seek it in?”
I owed the public a response to that.
— Ayala says the death penalty is expensive, not a deterrent to crime,
and a false promise to victims’ families.
And she has a point:
There are 368 people on death row in Florida,
and some have been awaiting execution for as long as 40 years.
— There’s the theory of death penalty, of what people say,
and then there's the truth of the death penalty system in Florida.
When a person is convicted of a crime, and then they're sentenced to death,
that's not the end.
That is the beginning of decades, and decades, and decades of appeals.
— But Ayala never stated her position on the death penalty during the campaign.
And critics say she’s putting her personal convictions
above her responsibility to enforce the law.
— You are elected in a state that has the death penalty.
You have a governor that is fiercely in support of the death penalty.
Your first case involves the killing of a pregnant woman and a law enforcement officer,
and you're one month into office.
Why risk your career?
— It's not about risking my career, it's about doing what is right.
And that is what I promised and that is what I will continue to do.
— Why didn't you make this point clearer to the voters?
— When I ran for office,
I don't recall it ever being an issue of death penalty.
And, quite frankly, I wasn’t an opponent of death penalty.
While I definitely believe that I owe every voter an explanation,
my explanation is: I promised you that I would look into the details,
the evidence, the research, and the facts, whenever I make a decision,
and that I would do what is just and fair.
— Scott responded by taking all 23 of her murder cases
and giving them to a prosecutor outside her district.
— Not only has he tried to undercut my independence,
he's downplayed the rights of the people who elected me to be in that position,
that their voices were heard who they want to make these decisions.
— Now Ayala’s suing Scott to get her cases back.
Scott declined our request to be interviewed, but his office told VICE News
that the “families of victims deserve an attorney...”
“...who will prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law.”
— Did you wash your hands? — I missed a little.
— You missed what? — I missed a little.
— Ayala has gotten death threats and even received a noose in the mail.
Still, she stands by her decision.
— Your level of accountability changes, as the elected prosecutor,
so I made the decision:
until I know that it is proper to move forward,
I'm not moving.
— If the court rules in Governor Scott's favor,
what does the rest of your term look like?
— I just want to read what the… wow.
You threw-in with that one.
However the court rules, I want to just read their ruling,
accept their directives, if it's a directive towards me,
and I will honor whatever the court rules.