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Carlie
Jane Brucia
(March 16, 1992 to February 1, 2004)
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8361867/carlie-jane-brucia]
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We, the members of Unit 1012, will honor and remember 11-year-old Carlie
Brucia on March 16 and February 1 every year.
We, the members of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will make her one of The
82 murdered children of Unit 1012, where we will not forget her. Let us
remember how she lived and not how she died. We will always support her family
members.
Carlie's Law
was a bill introduced in the United States Congress by Representative Katherine
Harris (R-FL), with the support of Nick
Lampson (D-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), in response to the kidnapping,
rape and murder of
11-year-old Carlie Brucia by Joseph P. Smith in Florida in
February 2004. Smith was on probation at the time of Brucia's murder, having been
released from state prison thirteen months prior.
The amendment
to existing law was intended to toughen parole rules for sex
offenders and also notify non-custodial parents when there is criminal
activity near their child's home. Partly for this reason, Joseph Brucia, the
child's father, approved making the law in her name, although he concedes this
law would not have applied to her specific case, since the charges for which
Smith was on probation were not the sexual offenses the law would target.
The bill failed
to pass before the end of the 2004 session. Harris committed to re-introduce
the bill in 2005, but no further information has been made available.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlie%27s_Law
Background
Carlie Jane Brucia (March 16, 1992 –
February 1, 2004) was sexually battered and murdered by Joseph P. Smith after being kidnapped
from a car
wash near her home in Sarasota,
Florida, United
States, on February 1, 2004, while returning from a friend's house. She was
reported missing by her parents within half an hour of her abduction.
The kidnapping case became famous after
a surveillance video showing the girl surfaced. The video, taken from a security
camera located behind a car wash, shows Brucia being confronted by a man,
later identified as Smith, who then grabbed her arm and led her away toward a
car that was spotted on another camera. The video was shown nationwide and
spurred a massive manhunt for the abductor.
Arrest
On February 6, police announced that
Smith, a 37-year-old father of three and car
mechanic with a long list of arrests for drug-related charges and one for
kidnapping and false imprisonment, was in custody as the
primary suspect. In the same announcement, the police confirmed that Smith's
car was involved in the crime.
The story gained national media
attention in large part because Brucia's abduction was recorded by a
surveillance camera. The tape shows her being approached by a man who seemed to
be in his late 20s or early 30s. They apparently had a short conversation,
after which he grabbed her by the arm and took her away. The FBI and NASA
joined in the efforts to find Brucia and the man seen with her on the
videotape. NASA
researchers used advanced image processing technology to enhance the recording
by reducing image
jitter.
At least two informants called police,
having recognized Smith from the television broadcasts of the security camera
tape. Smith was already in custody at the time, having been arrested on
February 3 on an unrelated parole violation. Smith refused to speak with investigators
about Brucia's abduction until February 5, when he revealed where he had hidden
her body, behind a nearby church.
Trial
On February 20, Smith was indicted for first-degree murder, and charges of kidnapping
and capital sexual battery were also filed by Sarasota
County prosecutors. The trial started November 7, 2005 in Sarasota. On
November 17, 2005, the jury returned a guilty verdict. On December 1, 2005, the
jury, by a vote of 10 to 2, returned a recommendation for the death
penalty. On March 15, 2006, Smith was sentenced to two terms of life
imprisonment on the charges of capital sexual battery and kidnapping, and
to death by lethal
injection on the murder charge.
In October 2011, the United States Supreme Court (which had
earlier rejected an appeal from Smith in June 2011), ordered that the State of
Florida respond to a federal claim filed by Smith saying his right to confront
witnesses at trial was violated when prosecutors introduced DNA evidence against him
without making available the lab technician who actually performed the work.
The Court later dismissed the appeal after deciding a related case, Williams v. Illinois.
In the aftermath of Hurst
v. Florida, which required juries in Florida to be unanimous in
imposing the death penalty, Smith's death sentence was overturned in 2018. He
is awaiting a resentencing hearing.
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Joseph
Smith (left) was convicted to killing Carlie Brucia (right)
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State Attorney seeks to reinstate
Joseph Smith's death sentence in Carlie Brucia case
Smith was sentenced to death in 2006 after he was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.
Author: Phil Buck
Published: 3:52 PM EST January 24, 2020
Updated: 6:26 PM EST January 24, 2020
Smith was sentenced to death in 2006 after he was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.
Author: Phil Buck
Published: 3:52 PM EST January 24, 2020
Updated: 6:26 PM EST January 24, 2020
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — At least
one state attorney says he will look to get a Florida inmate back on death row
following a major decision by the state Supreme Court Thursday.
The office of Ed Brodsky, the
State Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit, told 10News Friday: “Based on the
Florida Supreme Court’s opinion and State v. Poole, our office will be filing
the appropriate motion to reimpose Joseph Smith’s death sentence.”
Smith was sentenced to death in
2006 after he was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old
Carlie Brucia. Smith’s death sentence was overturned in 2018 because the jury
that recommended the death sentence wasn't unanimous in their votes.
This week, the court ruled that
juries do not have to vote unanimously for a death sentence to be imposed. The
ruling said the court “got it wrong” in 2016 when it required unanimous jury
recommendations for death sentences.
According to the Florida
Department of Corrections, there are 340 inmates currently on the state’s death
row roster.
At least 33 of those inmates had
their death sentences overturned over the 2016 court ruling, according to the
Death Penalty Information Center.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2551898304932120
.... …. https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/politics/joseph-smith-carlie-brucia-death-penalty-florida-supreme-court/67-e92dddd5-c160-4968-adb5-c8863af1392c
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