Governor Ron DeSantis speaking in Juno Beach, FL – Courtesy: YES Market Media – Shutterstock
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fired the top state prosecutor in Orlando. He said she was incompetent and didn’t do her job because she was too easy on dangerous criminals. This was the latest time the governor used his power as governor to attack local leaders from the other political party.
Monique H. Worrell was the elected state attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, which covers Orange and Osceola Counties. Mr. DeSantis suspended her, citing, among other things, how she handled three cases and the low number of people in jail overall. In one of the three cases, a man shot two Orlando police officers over the weekend and hurt them.
It’s the second time in a year that Mr. DeSantis, a Republican who is running for president, has fired an elected state attorney. This is a very rare and extreme move. Both of them voted for Democrats.
The cultural focus of Mr. DeSantis’s presidential campaign has made it hard for him to gain support among likely Republican primary voters. In a recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College, likely Republican primary voters said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate “who focuses on restoring law and order” than one “who focuses on defeating radical ‘woke’ ideology.” On Tuesday, Mr. DeSantis got a new campaign boss.
In August 2022, when he fired Andrew H. Warren, the top prosecutor in Tampa, the governor got a lot of criticism. Warren had signed a statement with 90 other elected attorneys from around the country promising not to go after people who get or give abortions. Critics said that the decision to fire him was based on politics. But Mr. Warren is still not in office, and Mr. DeSantis talks about how he was kicked out of office in almost every campaign speech.
Mr. DeSantis said on Wednesday that Ms. Worrell’s office had charged cases in ways that got around mandatory minimum sentences for gun and drug trafficking crimes, let juveniles avoid serious charges or jail time, found ways to avoid asking for harsher sentences when they were available, limited charges for child pornography, and let some criminals avoid having a criminal record.
Former federal and military lawyer Mr. DeSantis said, “Prosecutors do have some freedom to choose which cases to bring and which ones not to bring.” “But what this state attorney has done is use his or her power in a way that goes against the law and has made some Florida laws meaningless.”
Ms. Worrell’s job was given to Andrew A. Bain, a judge from the same court circuit, by the governor. Ms. Worrell could try to get her case heard by the State Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, or by the Florida Supreme Court, where Mr. DeSantis chose most of the judges.
In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Worrell said that she did not “expect justice out of the state of Florida” and that she would run for re-election next year.
She said, “Prosecutors all over the country are talking about attacks on prosecutorial discretion because they have become a new political issue for extreme Republicans who want to destroy democracy.”
Ms. Worrell, who was chosen with 66 percent of the vote in 2020, was well aware that Mr. DeSantis had her in his sights. This year, his lawyer asked her office for information about a 19-year-old man with a criminal record who was later accused of killing three people, including a local reporter and a 9-year-old girl. The general counsel also asked for information about people who had been arrested on criminal charges while on probation or who had a criminal record but were not charged.
In March, Ms. Worrell released data that showed her rate of prosecution was the same as that of two of her peers. She did this because she thought she might be suspended.
Ms. Worrell and Mr. Warren are two of the many progressive attorneys who have gotten help from groups backed by George Soros, a liberal billionaire investor. When running for president, Mr. DeSantis makes fun of Mr. Soros’s name to get people to cheer.
Ms. Worrell used to be a public defender and is now a law professor. She has backed the use of restorative justice and diversion programs as alternatives to jail time.
In two of the three cases that Mr. DeSantis talked about at his news conference, serious crimes were committed by people who already had criminal records. One of them was Daton Viel, a 28-year-old man who had shot and seriously hurt two Orlando police officers the night before. Viel was killed by police on Saturday. After being accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, Mr. Viel made bond earlier this year. He was also on probation for felony trespass, which was a different crime.
The other cases involved a man who shot and killed his pregnant lover after getting out of jail on charges that included carrying a gun on school property and a man who was found guilty of armed robbery as a young offender and sentenced to 51 weeks in jail.
Ms. Worrell said that some of the things the governor used as examples were out of her control, like fines and bonds, which are decided by judges who can go against what prosecutors say.
She also said that a lot of the evidence used against her came from local law enforcement officials who don’t like her because she has brought charges against police officers, including one who shot an innocent person.
“Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, whether you like me or hate me, my message has always been the same: Democracy is under attack,” she said. “Elected officials should not be fired by other elected officials who don’t agree with them politically.”
Make sure you are staying up-to-date with the latest and most important Florida news with Florida Insider. Whether you are interested in business, education, government, history, sports, real estate, nature, weather, or travel: we have something for everyone. Follow along for the best stories in the Sunshine State.
Mike has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. He once owned his own agency and has worked with some of the largest brands in the world.
