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Motion would bar crucial admission

Joseph Smith allegedly told a brother where he left Carlie Brucia's body. The statement was gotten illegally, his attorney says.

SARASOTA - Statements Joseph P. Smith made from jail about the slaying of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia last year were illegally obtained and should not be used against him at trial, his attorney argued in court papers.

The motion filed by attorney Adam Tebrugge said Smith told his brother, John Smith, by telephone where authorities could find the body of the girl, whose abduction was recorded by a carwash surveillance camera on Feb. 1, 2004.

Two FBI agents had persuaded John Smith to question his brother about the whereabouts of Carlie's body after Joseph Smith had already invoked his right to remain silent and asked for a lawyer, the motion filed Wednesday said. Tebrugge said the suspect was "illegally interrogated" by his brother and deputies.

John Smith had told the agents his brother "could be deceived into making statements to him," and suggested ways to get statements from his brother "using subterfuge," the motion said.

Four days after Carlie's disappearance, John Smith, Joseph Smith and their mother met at the jail, but Joseph Smith didn't reveal anything about the case, the motion said. Later that night, John Smith called the agents to say his brother had called from jail and talked about Carlie.

Based on that information, Carlie's body was found hours later on the grounds of a church, the motion said.

The State Attorney's Office declined comment on Tebrugge's motion.

Carlie's disappearance drew international attention after the carwash surveillance tape was released to TV news stations and shown around the world. Tebrugge has also challenged the use of that video at Smith's first-degree murder trial, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 7.

[Last modified September 24, 2005, 00:59:07]