Gov. DeSantis Suspends State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, Citing Neglect of Duty

[Turd Fergusen]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —
On Wednesday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he will be suspending State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, citing neglect of duty.

DeSantis made the announcement, saying Worrell's criminal justice administration has been, "clearly and fundamentally derelict, so as to constitute both neglect of duty and incompetence."

"The state of Florida is a law and order state," the governor said. "Refusing to faithfully enforce the laws of Florida puts our communities in danger and victimizes innocent Floridians."

The formal reasons for the suspension, implemented by executive order, are as follows:

• Pattern or practice to avoid minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes
• Pattern or practice to avoid minimum mandatory sentences for drug trafficking offenses
• Pattern or practice allowing juvenile offenders to avoid serious charges and incarceration
• Pattern or practice to avoid minimum mandatory to avoid valid applicable sentencing enhancements
• Pattern or practice limiting charges for child pornography offenses
• Pattern or practice for seeking withholding of adjudication in situations not permitted under Florida law

DeSantis stressed that prosecutors do have discretion on which cases to bring and which to not.

"What this state attorney has done is abuse that discretion, and effectively nullified laws in the state of Florida," he said.

He said Andrew Bain will be taking over for 9th Judicial Circuit.

DeSantis cited the criminal history of Daton Viel, who shot two Orlando officers, as an example of Worrell dropping the ball. Viel was out on bond for a child rape case when he shot the officers.

Worrell held a news conference several days after the Orlando officers were shot, rejecting "finger-pointing" and attempting to explain why Viel being on the streets was not her fault.

"This has happened repeatedly, where a prosecutor comes out after something has happened and feel the need to explain herself," Attorney General Ashley Moody said.

Full Article:

Gov. DeSantis suspends State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, citing neglect of duty

On Wednesday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he will be suspending State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, citing neglect of duty.

www.wesh.com

 

[Blunderbuss Firozabad]

"It is the second time in a year that Mr. DeSantis, a Republican running for president, has taken the drastic and exceedingly rare step of removing an elected state attorney. Both have been Democrats.

Mr. DeSantis’s presidential campaign, with its focus on cultural issues, has struggled to gain traction among likely Republican primary voters, who said in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll that they would be more likely to support a candidate “who focuses on restoring law and order” over one “who focuses on defeating radical ‘woke’ ideology.” Mr. DeSantis replaced his campaign manager on Tuesday."


" Ms. Worrell, who was elected in 2020 with 66 percent of the vote, was known to be in Mr. DeSantis’s sights. Earlier this year, his general counsel demanded information from her office on a case involving a 19-year-old man with a criminal record who was subsequently accused of killing three people, including a local journalist and a 9-year-old girl. The general counsel also sought details on cases involving people who had violated the terms of their probation by being arrested on criminal charges, or who had a prior criminal history and were not prosecuted.

In March, anticipating that she might be suspended, Ms. Worrell released data showing that her prosecution rate was similar to that of two of her predecessors."


" June 2020, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Andrew A. Bain, of Orlando, to the Orange County Bench of the Ninth Circuit.
Bain aligns politically with DeSantis and is a member of the far-right Federalist Society."

DeSantis Suspends Second Elected Prosecutor in Florida (Published 2023)

The Republican governor accused Monique H. Worrell, the state attorney in Orlando and a Democrat, of leniency toward violent criminals, a charge her office has denied.

www.nytimes.com

Andrew Bain: Who is the state attorney appointed to replace Monique Worrell?

Here’s what we know about Andrew Bain:

www.wftv.com

 

[Sejanus]

Election cycles in the US are waaaaay too long.

 

[CRWX]

Prosecutors / DAs are now expected to be entirely beholden to whoever PACed or appointed 'em in to the job in the first place. Regardless of political flavor.

Personally, I think it's the very epitome of a job ripe for usurpation by AI.

 

[cubby]

I can see where this might be a case of where DeSantis might be replacing the liberal with the conservative and making a show of just how "law and order"
he is, but I can also see not wanting Florida to become another New York where the criminals are on a catch a release routine where they then commit worse crimes because they know they most likely won't be prosecuted. Six of one half dozen of the other.