ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Florida prosecutor is firing a double-barreled response to Gov. Rick Scott's efforts to take almost two-dozen criminal cases away from her after she said her office would no longer seek the death penalty.
State Attorney Aramis Ayala of Orlando filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, and was filing another with Florida's highest court later that day.
Ayala's complaint with the Florida Supreme Court will ask the justices to declare her the prosecutor in the cases that were ordered to be taken away from her.
The federal lawsuit says Scott is violating her equal protection and due process rights.
Ayala recently announced she wouldn't seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd or any other defendant. Loyd is charged with killing an Orlando police lieutenant and his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
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