By DARA KAM
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, April 10, 2017…….. Central Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala is pushing forward with a challenge to Gov. Rick Scott’s removal of her from 22 death penalty cases, including a high-profile case involving accused cop-killer Markeith Loyd.
Scott stripped Ayala, the newly elected prosecutor in Orange and Osceola counties, from the Loyd case after she announced last month she did not intend to seek the death penalty for Loyd or any other defendants in capital cases during her time in office.
Scott reassigned the Loyd case to outspoken death penalty proponent Brad King, the Ocala-area state attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit, and last week put King in charge of 21 other death penalty cases currently being handled by Ayala’s office.
After Ayala challenged Scott’s authority to remove her from the Loyd case, a circuit judge refused to put the case on hold while Ayala moved forward with her legal challenge.
