Aramis Ayala announced Tuesday morning that she will not seek a second term as state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties in 2020 – and within hours, former Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. strongly suggested he intends to run to replace her.
Ayala, who was elected in 2016 as Florida’s first African American state attorney, revealed her decision not to seek re-election in a video posted to her office’s Facebook page. Her office declined to make her available for an interview Tuesday.
In the video, Ayala she linked the decision to her opposition to the death penalty and a Florida Supreme Court decision that upheld the reassignment of dozens of cases to another state attorney as a result of her position on capital punishment.
“As state attorney, those views will not impact the administration of law and I will continue to follow the law, but I also realize that it’s time for me to move forward and to continue the pursuit of justice in a different capacity,” she said.
Ayala said she was proud to have helped to “raise the standard of prosecutorial accountability” and expand diversity within the agency during her term.
Since Ayala’s term began, she’s hired 98 women and 47 men, office spokeswoman Eryka Washington said. Out of the 145 new hires, 61 have identified as white; 39 as black; 38 as Hispanic; five as Asian; and two as multi-racial. The office could not provide comparable numbers from the previous administration, but Washington said Ayala’s executive team was more diverse than the previous state attorney’s.
“We’ve been able to accomplish those things and so many more,” Ayala said. “Yet even with those accomplishments after the Florida Supreme Court’s decision on the death penalty, it became abundantly clear to me that death penalty law in the state of Florida is in direct conflict with my view and my vision for the administration of justice.”
Local civil rights attorney Natalie Jackson said Ayala “broke the glass ceiling” for African Americans in Florida as the first black state attorney and one of the few women in the position.
“I’m sad to see her go, but I understand why,” she said. “Being the first is always challenging, but she did it with courage and determination.”
Jackson called Ayala a “star” in the progressive criminal justice reform movement and said she believes Ayala is headed toward the national stage.
“My activist friends are always talking about her and wondering what her next move will be,” Jackson said. “She’s doing what criminal justice reformists have been talking about for the past 20 years – that’s why we need people like her in these leadership positions.”
“I know she’s not over it. She has plans. She’s not done.”
There are currently only two candidates who have filed to run for state attorney in the Ninth Circuit, state records show: Ryan Williams, a Democrat who left Ayala’s office in 2017 and currently works for King’s office, handling cases that were taken from her by Scott; and Kevin Morenski, a Republican who cited Ayala’s death penalty opposition as a motivation for his run.
Perry’s long-rumored bid has the potential to shake up the race, but he stopped short of committing in an interview Tuesday.
Perry, who became a household name during the 2011 murder trial of Casey Anthony, said he’s giving “strong consideration” to running for Orange-Osceola state attorney. He said it was “too early” to start campaigning, and he plans to announce his decision in early 2020.
Currently an attorney with the Morgan & Morgan firm, Perry is a Democrat who changed his registration from the Republican party on Jan. 16, 2019, according to Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles.
“I don’t want to spend two summers campaigning,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t need to build name recognition. If people don’t know me by now they never will.”
He said Ayala didn’t relate to residents of the Ninth Circuit in terms of her stance on the death penalty and the way she ran her office.
“I don’t think she has a record of touting victims’ rights,” he said. “She’s more focused on defendants’ rights. There is a balance to that, and I think her office lacked balance in approaching it.”
On Facebook, police unions representing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Orlando Police Department reaffirmed their support for Williams, who they endorsed in February.
Williams said that, with Ayala dropping out of the race, voters would see more clearly his vision for the office.
“I appreciate the fact that she was the first African American state attorney elected in Florida, but I think her policies have had a negative impact on the community,” he said.
Morenski, an Orlando criminal defense attorney, said Ayala’s decision was “not surprising.”
“My gut is telling me she wants to go to the next step up,” he said of Ayala. “She’s always seen [the position] as a stepping stone.”
In 2016, Ayala ousted the incumbent state attorney, Jeff Ashton, in the Democratic primary.
Initially expected to be a sleepy race, it took a turn after a Washington D.C.-based political action committee poured more than $1 million into Ayala’s campaign. The money, linked to billionaire George Soros, funded a slew of TV ads and mailers accusing Ashton of racially discriminatory policies. Ashton, who was elected a judge in the Ninth Circuit last year, declined to comment Tuesday.
Soon after taking office, in March 2017, Ayala announced she would not seek the death penalty in any cases handled by her office. She said capital punishment had been unevenly applied and was not a deterrent for serious crimes – a stance she had not publicly expressed during her campaign.
Then-Gov. Rick Scott said Ayala’s decision made it “abundantly clear that she will not fight for justice,” and the Republican governor reassigned 29 death penalty cases from her office to State Attorney Brad King of Ocala. The Republican-led Florida Legislature also slashed the budget for Ayala’s office by $1.3 million.
The reassignments sparked a legal fight, which went all the way to Florida’s high court. Ayala became a “lightning rod” in the nationwide death penalty debate, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that provides critical analysis of capital punishment in the U.S.
“Ayala’s was one of the first elected state attorneys to indicate that she would not pursue the death penalty,” Dunham said. “I think she played an important role in bringing attention to the public policy issues involving capital punishment.”
The state Supreme Court ultimately sided with Scott 5-2, ruling that Ayala’s decision was not defensible as prosecutorial discretion.
“By effectively banning the death penalty in the Ninth Circuit… Ayala has exercised no discretion at all,” Justice C. Alan Lawson wrote. “… Ayala’s blanket refusal to seek the death penalty in any eligible case, including a case that ‘absolutely deserve[s] [the] death penalty’ does not reflect an exercise of prosecutorial discretion; it embodies, at best, a misunderstanding of Florida law.”
Ayala reversed her policy on the death penalty after the ruling, appointing a panel of assistant state attorneys to review future capital cases and determine whether to seek the death penalty. She did not seek the return of 29 cases that were taken from her office by Scott.
Despite that defeat, Ayala has remained a vocal critic of capital punishment. Earlier this year, she was a keynote speaker at an anti-death penalty conference in Brussels, where she said, “There is no justice in death.”
In her video Tuesday, Ayala indicated she intends to finish her current term and “look[s] forward to continuing to serve as your state attorney.”
“Thanks to the people of Orange and Osceola counties I was elected and I accepted the honor of becoming the first African American to ever serve as state attorney in Florida. Thank you,” she said. “As state attorney, seeking justice is the top priority and we’ve been able to do that by bringing new reforms that are necessary, yet they never compromise public safety.”
Ayala also added a lot of work “still needs to be done,” and she plans to unveil new policies in the coming weeks.
