Lee County Sheriff to hold a news conference regarding shooting investigationPresident Biden to visit Tampa for reproductive freedom event
FILE: In a press conference on the steps of the Orange County Courthouse, Florida Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala announces Thursday, March 16, 2017, that her office will no longer pursue the death penalty as a sentence in any case brought before the 9th Judicial Circuit of Florida. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)/Orlando Sentinel via AP) ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) A Florida prosecutor is seeking the death penalty following a lost legal battle with the governor over her previous blanket policy against executions. Eryka Washington, a spokeswoman for Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, confirmed Thursday that a seven-member panel of prosecutors unanimously agreed that the death penalty should be sought for a case in Ayala’s circuit. Washington wouldn’t name the suspect or victim. She would only say the homicide had occurred sometime since Ayala took office in January. Ayala previously announced she would stop seeking the death penalty altogether. An angry Republican Gov. Rick Scott reassigned her death penalty-eligible cases to another state prosecutor. The governor’s move was upheld in August by the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled Ayala was wrong to have a blanket policy. Ayala agreed to abide by the decision and created the panel.