‘I feel vindicated’: Florida reelects prosecutor suspended by DeSantis over sentencing decisions

In one of the few highlights for Democrats in what is now a bright red Sunshine State, voters in the Orlando area reelected a progressive prosecutor that Gov. Ron DeSantis had previously suspended.

Democrat Monique Worrell received about 57% of the vote over Independent Andrew Bain, the man DeSantis picked to replace her with in the Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office in August 2023. The circuit encompasses Orange and Osceola counties in central Florida.

“I feel vindicated,” Worrell told the Orlando Sentinel. “Tonight the voters have vindicated me. Let’s just hope the governor will respect the will of the voters this time.”

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Bain conceded the race.

“With an exceptional team of both seasoned prosecutors and passionate young attorneys, we will continue to work we have started,” Bain said in a statement. “Together, we will fight for justice, pursue fairness and ensure that every decision made from this office priorities the safety and well-being of the people.”

A DeSantis spokesman did not immediately return an email from Law&Crime seeking comment about whether he plans to reinstate Worrell. He suspended her via executive order for alleged “neglect of duty” and “incompetence.”

In his order, the governor accused Worrell of having abused her prosecutorial discretion by systematically failing to seek mandatory minimum sentences under Florida law, and for not fully prosecuting repeat criminal offenders. DeSantis’s order prohibited Worrell from performing any acts, duties, or functions of public office, and suspended her indefinitely without pay.

Another justification was her alleged handling of cases involving a man named Keith Moses, who allegedly murdered 9-year-old T’Yonna Major, TV reporter Dylan Lyons and 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin during a February 2023 shooting rampage. DeSantis argued it was Worrell who let Moses off the hook for previous crimes which allowed him to be on the streets. The Sentinel reported most of Moses’ previous cases were handed under Worrell’s predecessor when the killer was a minor.

Bain flooded central Florida airwaves with ads using the Moses cases as an example of Worrell’s soft-on-crime policies. However, it apparently backfired as T’Yonna’s father issued a statement to the Sentinel asking the Republican Party of Florida stop using his daughter as a political ploy.

While Bain touted violent crime decreasing under his watch, 17-year-old Jaylen Edgar opened fire in downtown Orlando killing two people and injuring nine during Halloween festivities attended by up to 100,000 people early Friday. Bain’s office had previously handled Edgar’s 2023 grand theft case, according to local Fox affiliate WOFL.

Worrell, a former public defender and professor at the University of Florida, sued DeSantis shortly after her suspension to get her job back. She alleged that her suspension had been invalid because DeSantis failed to point to any actual malfeasance on her part.

In her filing, Worrell argued that she should not be blamed for case processing times and accused DeSantis of using his power to suspend as a “‘take my word for it’ license” to suspend anyone with whom DeSantis had political differences.

Worrell said that she handled her caseload in a manner consistent with ethical rules and exercised her prosecutorial discretion so as to conserve scarce prison resources.

“A state attorney’s duty is not to maximize incarceration rates at all costs,” Worrell argued in her complaint.

In its June ruling, Florida’s top court sided with DeSantis, reasoning that, “Prosecutorial discretion is no complete defense to an allegation of incompetence or dereliction of duty.” Five of the seven justices of the court were appointed by DeSantis. The two who were not appointed by DeSantis — Justices Jorge Labarga and Charles Canady — were both appointed by DeSantis’s predecessor, Republican Charlie Crist.

Worrell was one of two Democratic prosecutors suspended by DeSantis. He also ousted Andrew Warren, who was state attorney in the Tampa area, after Warren said he would not prosecute abortion cases after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Warren lost his election bid Tuesday.

Elura Nanos contributed to this report

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