Aramis Ayala
Aramis Ayala is the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. She was elected in November 2016, and serves as the chief prosecutor. In May 2019, Ayala stated that she would not seek re-election as state attorney.
Ayala was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree. She then obtained her J.D. degree from the University of Detroit.
Controversy arose after she announced she would not seek capital punishment in any case, causing Governor Rick Scott to reassign potential death penalty cases to another State Attorney. Ayala has filed lawsuits disputing this action in the Supreme Court of Florida, and in federal court. Ayala lost her Supreme Court case against Scott. The Florida Supreme Court ruled against Ayala saying the Governor was within his power to take cases away from Ayala because of her position to abandon the death penalty.
