Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier will not defend a fatal road rage case prosecuted by state attorney Monique Worrell if any conviction goes to an appeals court, he warned in a Monday letter.
Instead, he may ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend her. Again. It would be the latest strike in a between the DeSantis administration and Worrell, Orange County鈥檚 Democratic chief prosecutor, who only just retook her seat after the governor removed her from office.
Uthmeier will insist Worrell made a 鈥減lain error鈥� in choosing to prosecute Tina Allgeo 鈥� a 47-year-old woman who shot and killed a man who attacked her in her car during a December road rage incident 鈥� if Allgeo is convicted and appeals her case. Uthmeier will also evaluate whether 鈥渇urther intervention is warranted.鈥�
鈥淵our decision to pursue this case as you have despite Allgeo鈥檚 self-defense immunity under at least two Florida statutes may very likely require my office to admit plain error on appeal,鈥� Uthmeier wrote in the letter, accusing Worrell of ignoring the state鈥檚 鈥渟tand your ground鈥� laws allowing self-defense killings.
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Uthmeier just hours later asked Worrell to investigate a former state senator for posting the whereabouts of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. He wondered whether the ex-lawmaker, Linda Stewart, was 鈥渉arassing鈥� law enforcement.
As Florida鈥檚 chief legal officer, Uthmeier exercises a general 鈥溾�� role over Florida鈥檚 20 elected state attorneys, although they function independently of him. The power to suspend a state attorney lies solely with the governor.
鈥淵our actions likely constitute a breach of your ethical obligations. And they may also constitute misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence,鈥� he continued, reciting the Florida Constitution鈥檚 provisions allowing the governor to suspend an out-of-line officeholder.
鈥淚 strongly urge you to reconsider your prosecution of Allgeo.鈥�
When asked whether DeSantis would consider suspending Worrell, the governor鈥檚 office pointed to DeSantis鈥檚 comments at the State Freedom Caucus last week:
鈥淚f you are a prosecutor, particularly those funded by George Soros, please know that if you don鈥檛 enforce the law, I will remove you from your post.鈥�
The Orange County Grand Jury indicted Allgeo in February for the second-degree murder with a firearm of 42-year-old Mihail Tsvetkov. Surveillance footage shows Allgeo outside of her car, taking photos of Tsvetkov鈥檚 plates. When Tsvetkov drove away, she pursued him and struck his car with hers.
A red light camera video then follows Tsvetkov as he exits his car, yanks open Allgeo鈥檚 car door, and begins to beat her, seemingly attempting to pull her out of her vehicle. Allgeo then pulls the trigger on her firearm, shooting Tsvetkov 鈥渋n the face鈥� and killing him almost instantly, News 6 .
Allgeo later said that she initially confronted Tsvetkov because he tailgated her and allegedly purposely hit her car with his own.
鈥淭his is a case of great public importance that needed to be reviewed by the Grand Jury to determine whether the evidence supported an indictment,鈥� Worrell said after the grand jury indictment. 鈥淕un violence stemming from senseless disputes will not be tolerated, and our office will hold those who commit these acts accountable.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time Worrell and Uthmeier have clashed. In April, he accused her of both slow-walking and ignoring a mounting backlog of cases. He called a press conference to send six statewide prosecutors to help her with the workload, jabbing at her alleged ties to Democrat mega-donor Soros in the process.
This followed weeks of back-and-forth between the legal politicos, which involved accusations of Worrell being 鈥渟oft on crime鈥� and Uthmeier being 鈥渦ninformed.鈥�
Before Uthmeier was sworn in as attorney general in February, he served as DeSantis鈥檚 chief of staff. He held this title in August 2023, when DeSantis suspended Worrell for 鈥渉er duty to faithfully prosecute crime in her jurisdiction.鈥�
Although Worrell failed to get the Florida Supreme Court to her suspension, she won a second term in November. This unseated Andrew Bain, whom DeSantis had appointed to replace her. DeSantis had also suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney but he failed for re-election last year.
鈥淵ou may not like Florida鈥檚 self-defense laws,鈥� Uthmeier wrote Monday. 鈥淏ut those laws reflect the simple truth that a Floridian 鈥� a woman in this case 鈥� has the right to use deadly force to stop a man from brutalizing or killing her.鈥�
Worrell鈥檚 office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
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