Criminal defense attorney Seth Hyman, 48, who  worked for the state attorney’s office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit serving Orange and Osceola counties before getting terminated in 2017, is now campaigning to head that office.

He’s running to prevent former State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Democrat, from being re-elected, according to a candidate survey Hyman completed on Ballotpedia. He said it was “imperative” that Worrell, elected in 2021 and removed from office last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, not be re-elected.

“She ran an office that was led by a philosophy of non-prosecution similar to those in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago,” he wrote in his survey response. “Those policies have greatly damaged the economies of their cities because of a rise in crime and homelessness. Orange and Osceola Counties depend on people wanting to visit and move to our community. We cannot have our reputation as a safe place tarnished as that will have a significant negative impact on our local economy.”

Early voting takes place Aug. 5-18. Check our list for locations. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Aug. 8. They can be mailed back or returned to any early voting location but must be received by the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Aug. 20 to be counted.

Hyman faces Thomas Feiter in the Republican primary. The winner squares off in the Nov. 5 general election against Worrell and independent incumbent Andrew Bain, appointed by DeSantis to replace Worrell in the office.

Two sides, same coin

On his campaign website, Hyman outlined his mission if elected. His top priority, he stated, is to “recapture” and “expand on” the close relationship with law enforcement the state attorney’s office had under former Sheriff and State Attorney Lawson Lamar who held the position for nearly 25 years before retiring in 2012.

Hyman wants to create a criminal law certificate training program for law enforcement and give new lawyers additional training, he explained in the Ballotpedia survey.

“Cops are not lawyers, but they execute criminal laws on the streets. The more knowledge of the law they have, the strong cases will get stronger, and the weak cases will not end up in an unnecessary arrest,” he wrote.

He describes the symbiotic relationship between the state attorney’s office and law enforcement as “two sides of the same coin” — as fans of Dick Wolf’s Law & Order franchise already know.

“I’m the most pro-law enforcement candidate in this race by far. More than Thomas Feiter, more than Andrew Bain, more than Monique Worrell,” Hyman told VoxPopuli in an interview. “I think we have to support law enforcement.”

He also favors “appropriate and punitive” sentences for repeat violent offenders to “stop the revolving jailhouse doors.”

Difference in philosophy

Hyman moved to the Orlando area from Louisville, Kentucky, when he was 2 and grew up in Maitland, attending Edgewater High School. He went to Boston University and earned his law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco in 2007. He practiced commercial litigation in New York City for seven years, before returning to Orange County in 2014 to “spend time with family, get out of the cold, and live at the slower pace that I knew Orlando offered.” He’s affiliated with Rotary Club of Orlando, the Anti-Defamation League of Florida and Edgewater High School Foundation.

He joined the state attorney’s office under Jeffrey Ashton, now running for re-election to the circuit court. Hyman who said he’s a “punishment kind of guy," is “pro-death penalty” and said, if elected, he would pursue the death penalty for criminals that commit the most heinous of crimes. He said his focus would provide “justice to the victims” and “justice to the community.”

He said he wants deterrents in place, like tough sentences, as crime prevention. He also said to protect victims, perpetrators must be removed from the community if they can’t abide by the law.

Homelessness is another key priority, especially with the Oct. 1 deadline looming for the no public sleeping or camping law to go into effect. As state attorney, he said he would work with other agencies and nonprofits to offer mental health and drug addiction treatment to help people living on the streets.

“We have to acknowledge the fact we can’t control everyone’s behavior,” Hyman said, noting that the crime rate in the homeless population is higher than other populations. “Everyone has liberty, the Constitution, however we need to fix the homeless problem.”

Criticizing Worrell

Hyman’s gunning for Worrell because he claims when she was the top prosecutor, she cherry-picked the laws she would enforce.

“That’s the whole problem, because she’s deciding what laws should be laws and what laws should not be laws, and that’s the job of the legislature, not the state attorney,” he said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Worrell about a year ago allegedly for failing to do her job.

Worrell went to the Florida Supreme Court to challenge her removal, but the high court declined to take her case. Hyman said DeSantis was within his power as per the state Constitution to remove her from office.

Worrell has said her removal was political — a distraction from DeSantis’ failed presidential bid. Hyman has that in common with Worrell — he, too, was ousted from the state attorney’s office, perhaps for political reasons.

Hyman, who was an assistant state attorney when he was fired seven years ago, told VoxPopuli that it was politically motivated, that he didn’t see eye to eye with his new boss, Democrat State Attorney Aramis Ayala who succeeded Ashton when he moved up to circuit court judge. Hyman disagreed with many of the positions she held about the integrity of the criminal justice system. Ayala was known for refusing to seek the death penalty in any case, prompting then-Gov. Rick Scott to assign more than two dozen cases to other jurisdictions.

“Aramis Ayala had very different opinions about prosecuting criminals than I had,” said Hyman. “I’ll point you to this line, His conduct is not in line with the philosophy of the State Attorney or this administration, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Florida Politics reported an interoffice memo from the state attorney’s office noted that Hyman was terminated for withholding exculpatory evidence that could have cleared defendants of crimes. Former Chief Assistant State Attorney Deborah Barra, who wrote the memo, suspended Hyman after a meeting to discuss the issue. She wrote in the memo, “It appears Mr. Hyman has a pattern of behavior that is in conflict with the mission and ethical standards of this office.”

Hyman maintains he did not withhold evidence.

He told VoxPopuli that an Orlando Sentinel article recounting his firing “was filled with misinformation.”

The Orange County GOP endorsed Hyman and said they will continue to back him. Party Chair Erin Huntley told VoxPopuli that they knew Hyman was fired before endorsing him and believe his termination resulted because of philosophical differences about how to prosecute criminal cases.

“He has the right temperament to do the job and the way he conducts himself lines up with what the Republican party believes in,” Huntley said.

However, Feiter filed a bar complaint alleging the Orange County GOP exploited the vulnerabilities of elderly members during a June 27 meeting seeking their votes to endorse Hyman. Feiter also alleged that he has been pressured to drop out of the race to clear the way for independent Andrew Bain, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ choice for state attorney.

Huntley did not respond to a text message requesting comment.