Former State Attorney Monique Worrell held a news conference Wednesday morning. This comes about 100 days after Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Worrell from the office and put State Attorney Andrew Bain in charge. She said crime hasn’t really changed in Orange and Osceola counties, and a lot of the policies are the same and is looking forward to her day in court next month.”Violent crime and shootings have not stopped since my suspension,” Worrell said.Worrell said since she’s been removed from office, many of the changes that Bain has made were basically the same as hers and that conviction rates have been similar.But she worries prosecutors will be motivated to file cases that aren’t fit for trial.”The pressure to achieve convictions at all costs most certainly comes at the expense of the people these individuals have sworn to protect,” Worrell said.DeSantis suspended Worrell in August, claiming she had a policy to go easy on crime: he cited stats, showing only a small number of people whom the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office arrested for gun crimes and drug trafficking in the past two years who got minimum mandatory time in prison.Worrell said those stats are misleading.”Many of those cases hadn’t come ripe for trial yet because they were so new. And many of them weren’t trafficking cases at all,” she said.Worrell’s suing in state supreme court to get the order overturned and get herself reinstated back in the state attorney’s office. She says the suspension was illegal and purely political.This month, the Florida Association of Sheriffs filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the governor’s move. The two sides are set to argue their case on Dec. 6.
Former State Attorney Monique Worrell held a news conference Wednesday morning.
This comes about 100 days after Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Worrell from the office and put State Attorney Andrew Bain in charge.
She said crime hasn’t really changed in Orange and Osceola counties, and a lot of the policies are the same and is looking forward to her day in court next month.
“Violent crime and shootings have not stopped since my suspension,” Worrell said.
Worrell said since she’s been removed from office, many of the changes that Bain has made were basically the same as hers and that conviction rates have been similar.
But she worries prosecutors will be motivated to file cases that aren’t fit for trial.
“The pressure to achieve convictions at all costs most certainly comes at the expense of the people these individuals have sworn to protect,” Worrell said.
DeSantis suspended Worrell in August, claiming she had a policy to go easy on crime: he cited stats, showing only a small number of people whom the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office arrested for gun crimes and drug trafficking in the past two years who got minimum mandatory time in prison.
Worrell said those stats are misleading.
“Many of those cases hadn’t come ripe for trial yet because they were so new. And many of them weren’t trafficking cases at all,” she said.
Worrell’s suing in state supreme court to get the order overturned and get herself reinstated back in the state attorney’s office. She says the suspension was illegal and purely political.
This month, the Florida Association of Sheriffs filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the governor’s move. The two sides are set to argue their case on Dec. 6.
