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By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff WriterIf a judge agrees with their decision, Joseph P. Smith will be executed.
SARASOTA - Joseph P. Smith, the drug-addicted mechanic whose kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia became a source of national outrage, should be put to death for his crime, a jury concluded Thursday night.
The decision came after 5 hours of deliberation and elicited an outpouring of emotion outside the courthouse and across Sarasota, which has been riveted by the crime.
But the ordeal is not over. Smith's fate ultimately rests in the hands of Circuit Judge Andrew Owens. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for next month. By law, he must give great weight to the jury's recommendation. "I have faith he's going to do what's right," said Carlie's mother, Susan Schorpen, who crossed her fingers as the jury of eight women and four men were led into the courtroom. Even if sentenced to death by lethal injection, it could be years before Smith is executed, she said.
"He couldn't be dead fast enough for me," Schorpen said. "I want him dead. I want him dead now. My daughter's not breathing. She'll never breath again. I can never hold her again. And I've got to wait for appeals before he dies."
Smith, 39, was stoic as the decision was announced at 8:30 p.m. His family and defense attorneys, who argued for life in prison, left the courthouse quickly without comment.
Lead prosecutor Debra Riva said it was the outcome she wanted but said the upcoming hearing precluded her from saying more.
The jury, which voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty, restricted its comments to the foreman, Ron Kruzel.
"It was not an easy task," he said. "Our hearts go out to the families of both Carlie Brucia and Joseph Smith. We're praying for them."
The decision followed four days of testimony that concluded Thursday with emotional pleas from both sides. Closing arguments began just before noon.
Riva sought to discount claims that Smith's actions were fueled by a history of mental illness and drug addiction and that he was under a narcotic spell the day of the murder.
"He made the decision to prey upon a child for sexual gratification," she said. "He was under the influence of his urges, not the influence of a mental disorder or drugs."
Riva said witnesses presented by the defense knew Smith only superficially or from his early years - the boy seen in the picture petting a lamb at the zoo.
She said a truer picture of Smith could be found in a letter he recently wrote from prison, threatening to beat up his brother, a witness for the prosecution during the trial, and coaching another inmate on how to attack an enemy.
"That is the real Joseph Smith," Riva said. "The real Joe Smith left Carlie in those woods. The real Joe Smith, for his crimes, deserves the death penalty.
"Some say that life in prison is worse than death," she went on. "But it is still a life." He will have privileges, she said, and friends.
Riva described the method of the murder, including how he strangled Carlie, and said Smith killed her to assure he would not be caught. She told the jury of various aggravating circumstances that can be used to justify the death penalty in Florida, including committing a crime against someone younger than 12.
"Let's string him up now!" shouted a man in the back of the courtroom.
Smith spun around in his chair to see bailiffs escort the spectator away. Mario Vitali, 52, of Sarasota, was arrested on a charge of resisting an officer with violence.
Vitali apologized later, according to a sheriff's report, saying he was overcome by the prosecutor's presentation. Vitali works in the advertising industry, the report indicated.
Public defender Adam Tebrugge later referred to the outburst but did not argue it was grounds for mistrial.
Instead, he proceeded with a final plea to spare Smith's life.
"When we hear about this crime, in our gut we feel anger," he said. "And that's understandable. And when you're angry, you might feel Joe deserves the same fate."
But, he said, Smith's life was worthwhile, even if forever behind bars, so he could contribute to the lives of his three young daughters and help others in prison.
"Joe Smith," he said, "will have to suffer with this crime every day for the rest of his life. He will die in prison. The only question is when."
"The loss of Carlie Brucia is a terrible thing," Tubrugge said. "Execution will not do anything to bring her back or to honor her memory."
While the prosecution must show aggravating circumstances, the defense seeks to demonstrate mitigating circumstances. Tubrugge relied heavily on Smith's troubles with drugs, depression and back pain, which led to more narcotic abuse.
"Can we see the pressures that were building up upon him?" he asked, saying society does not hold the sick to the same standard of culpability.
"Joe didn't take drugs. Drugs took him," Tubrugge said. "His capacity to think, to feel, to understand consequences, was substantially impaired by his long-term, chronic and acute drug use."
He said that on Feb. 1, 2004, Smith was out of control on cocaine and acted out of "fear and confusion." Only after sobering up in jail, Tubrugge said, did Smith realize the severity of his actions and begin to repent, seeking help through God and family.
Tubrugge disputed that the murder was "especially heinous or cruel," one of the aggravating circumstances cited by the prosecution, or that it was premeditated.
"This is not a contract murder," he said.
Schorpen got up at that point, obviously distraught, and walked out of the courtroom.
"Some of the things he said were a little on the ridiculous side," Schorpen said later. "I just didn't want to hear anymore."
Tebrugge, who fought unsuccessfully earlier in the trial to suppress the letter Smith wrote from prison, acknowledged its potential weight in deliberations.
"I ask you to please not let a single letter destroy all of the other positive evidence we've put forward and asked you to consider," he said.
In the end, the appeal fell flat.
"He sealed his fate with his own words" in the letter, said Cheri Langworthy, whose daughter, Mandi, was best friends with Carlie. "He showed what really lay beneath."
Times staff writer Graham Brink contributed to this report.