Additionally, Taylor said victims’ families would be better off communicating with just the attorney general’s office. He also contended that the attorney general should control more of the cases that his office already handles through appeals. The attorney general is picked by Tennessee’s Supreme Court. Mulroy supports McKay’s motion, which argues that the new law hurts the district attorney’s ability to fulfill his responsibilities as an official elected locally under Tennessee’s Constitution. “Governors and attorney generals have taken steps toward removing individual cases from the local DA’s authority and even have sought to disqualify the DA from all potentially capital cases,” Dieter said.ĭieter said “it would make sense” for district attorneys to handle collateral challenges, which typically begin in trial courts. Richard Dieter, the Death Penalty Information Center’s executive director, said tension exists in capital cases where the district attorney has said the death penalty is flawed and that they will almost never seek it. Both governors reassigned death penalty cases to other prosecutors. In Florida, former state attorney Aramis Ayala clashed with Republican governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis for refusing to seek the death penalty. Lawyer Robert Hutton has filed a motion for Larry McKay, asking a judge to disqualify Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from representing the state in McKay’s effort to have a judge hear new evidence and grant another trial. The statute is the latest example of attempts by GOP governors and legislatures in several states to take on locally elected officials who have de-prioritized enforcement of laws they deem unnecessary. They say the change violates the state Constitution, bypasses the will of voters and targets progressive-minded district attorneys who have defied lawmakers in the past. Bill Lee has generated opposition from attorneys and Democratic lawmakers. The law passed in April by the GOP-led Tennessee Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. (AP) - A Tennessee death row inmate is challenging the newly expanded authority of the appointed state attorney general to argue certain capital cases, a power that lawmakers shifted away from locally elected prosecutors under a new law after some expressed reluctance to pursue the death penalty.
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