A former auto mechanic and father of three found guilty of kidnapping, strangling and murdering an 11-year-old Florida girl in 2004 will receive a new sentencing trial.
A judge has vacated Joseph Smith's death sentence in the wake of changes made to the use of the death penalty in Florida.
Still, Smith was not granted an automatic life sentence as his defense sought. Instead, his trial will be reheard, allowing the state the opportunity to re-seek the death penalty under Florida’s new law.
In Feb. 2004, Carlie Brucia was walking home from a friend’s house in Sarasota when Smith abducted her. A nearby car wash’s video surveillance system captured the abduction and was key evidence against Smith, who later confessed to the murder.
Florida’s law surrounding the death penalty fell into limbo on Jan. 2016, when it was ruled unconstitutional that in Florida, a judge, not a jury, has the ultimate say when it comes to imposing the death sentence.
In March of that year, the Florida Supreme Court voted unanimously that a jury is necessary to impose death.
On the same date, the Florida Supreme Court also ruled in a separate case that a unanimous vote by a jury was required to sentence someone to death, making the new legislation invalid.
Later that year, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that only death row inmates whose cases were finalized after a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Ring v. Arizona) qualified for a re-sentencing hearing.
Smith sought post-conviction relief to have his sentence vacated in March. When the judge at the time retired later that month, however, the case was reassigned to Circuit Judge Charles E. Roberts.
On Thursday, Roberts issued an order vacating Smith’s death sentence, but denying that he be given a life sentence instead.
“The court finds, particularly since defendant Smith’s death sentence became final after Ring was decided and he even raised a pretrial claim that the Florida death penalty statute was unconstitutional under Ring, the constitutional principles determined in Hurst apply retroactively in this case,” Roberts wrote in the order.
Smith was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 17, 2005, of first-degree murder, sexual battery and kidnapping. On Dec. 1 of that same year, the same jury voted 10-2 recommending Smith be sentenced to death. Circuit Judge Andrew D. Owens sentenced Smith to die on March 15, 2006, in addition to two life sentences for kidnapping and sexual battery.
Smith’s next scheduled court appearance is at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 for case management hearing.
In terms of the new hearing, Roberts ruled that the state still has the authority to re-seek the death penalty under the new law. No date has been set yet for the new penalty phase.