Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Associated PressAugust 21, 2017

A suspect in the fatal shooting of two police officers in Florida will be staying in jail after a judge denied him bond Sunday, saying there was probable cause for his first-degree murder charge Everett Miller wore handcuffs and shackles during a first-appearance hearing that lasted a minute and a half. When it was over, […]

Jim RosicaJune 28, 2017

A dubious-sounding Florida Supreme Court shellacked Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala‘s lawyer during oral arguments Wednesday, questioning her prosecutorial “discretion” in not seeking the death penalty. “I don’t even see a gray area,” Justice R. Fred Lewis said. “It seems to me that ‘discretion’ is not to ignore Florida law.” Justice Barbara Pariente also raised concerns […]

Associated PressJune 28, 2017

Does Florida’s governor have the power to take away a prosecutor’s case if he disagrees with a decision not to seek the death penalty? The state’s highest court will hear arguments Wednesday over that question in a legal fight between Gov. Rick Scott and State Attorney Aramis Ayala, whose district covers the Orlando area. Their […]

Scott PowersJune 5, 2017

Accused cop-killer Markeith Loyd has been cited for two more offenses; but unlike the murder charges he faces, if he challenges the new charges he likely would beat them: red light running tickets. The tickets, issued because of evidence gathered by red-light cameras in Orlando, were both for dates when Loyd already was in jail, […]

Scott PowersApril 11, 2017

Arguing Gov. Rick Scott had no legal basis to strip murder cases from her jurisdiction, Orlando’s State Attorney Aramis Ayala filed challenges Tuesday morning in both the Florida Supreme Court and federal court. In complaints filed by her attorney, Roy Austin Jr. of Washington D.C., Ayala contends that she legally exercised prosecutorial discretion in deciding not […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 4, 2017

In Jacksonville Tuesday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott discussed his ongoing war with State Attorney Aramis Ayala. In March, Scott took the Markeith Loyd murder case away from Ayala, due to her reluctance to pursue the death penalty for the cop killer. In April, Scott scored another pre-emptive strike: reassigning 21 first-degree murder cases that “represent a horrific loss of life.” […]

Michael MolineMarch 30, 2017

A church atmosphere prevailed as some 300 people converged on the state Capitol Thursday to protest Gov. Rick Scott’s removal of Orlando prosecutor Aramis Ayala from the murder prosecution of Markeith Loyd. The protest, organized by Color of Change and Equal Justice USA, included denunciations of the Legislature for threatening to strike $1.3 million from […]

Scott PowersMarch 28, 2017

After losing a judge’s ruling Tuesday on her request to remain the prosecutor for the murder trial of of alleged cop-killer Markeith Loyd, Orlando’s State Attorney Aramis Ayala vowed Tuesday to continue fighting for her right to represent the state in that case. Ninth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Frederick Lauten ruled Tuesday that the state […]

Jim RosicaMarch 23, 2017

The leader of Florida’s black lawmakers Thursday said Gov. Rick Scott would not have stripped Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala of the Markeith Loyd murder case had she been a white Republican. “Absolutely not,” Sen. Perry Thurston, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, told reporters at a news conference in the Capitol. Ayala, a Democrat, is black. Members of […]

Associated PressMarch 22, 2017

A prosecutor who was given a case involving a police officer’s murder by Florida’s governor after the original prosecutor said her office would no longer seek the death penalty says the original prosecutor has no authority to ask for the case back. Gov. Rick Scott gave the case against Markeith Loyd to State Attorney Brad […]

Tag: Markeith Loyd

No bond for suspect in officers’ fatal shooting in Kissimmee

Court grills Aramis Ayala lawyer over avoidance of death penalty

Rick Scott, Aramis Ayala fight heads to state high court

Markeith Loyd hit with two red-light running tickets while he was in jail

Aramis Ayala files challenges of Rick Scott with Florida Supreme Court, federal court

Rick Scott says decisions related to Aramis Ayala ‘nothing to do with politics’

Hundreds rally at Capitol in support of embattled Aramis Ayala

Aramis Ayala loses judge’s ruling but pushes forward to challenge case reassignment

Legislative Black Caucus says it supports Aramis Ayala

New prosecutor says old prosecutor shouldn’t get case back