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TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist filed an emergency motion Thursday to stay a Second District Court of Appeal ruling in favor of plaintiffs who wish to view crime scene and autopsy photos and videotapes of Carlie Brucia. The court overturned the original ruling of the trial court which prohibited access to the photographs and tapes.
Eleven-year-old Carlie Brucia was kidnapped Feb. 1, 2004, in Sarasota as she was walking home from a friend's house. The abduction was captured on videotape by a car wash security camera, showing 39-year-old Joseph Smith confronting her. Her partially naked body was found four days later near a church. The video was broadcast worldwide and led to Smith's arrest when family members and friends recognized him.
Smith was found guilty of the murder on Thursday after a jury deliberated just five hours, convicting Smith of first degree murder, sexual battery of a child less than 12 years of age and kidnapping with infliction of bodily harm and/or with commission of felony on the child. He could receive the death penalty when sentenced on Nov. 28.
The Attorney General is taking action in accordance with Florida law designed to keep the photographs and tapes private. These statutes are more current than the one cited by the court in Thursday's ruling. The Attorney General issued the following statement:
"While I am a strong proponent of public records laws in Florida, certain exemptions to public disclosure are contained within our statutes. What is known as the Dale Earnhardt Law passed in 2001, exempts photographs and videotapes of autopsies from public disclosure. In 2003, further legislation was passed that exempts photographs and videotapes of victims of lewd or lascivious offenses who are under the age of 16. Carlie Brucia was just 11.
"The legislative intent for the 2003 law could not have been more clear. The Legislature finds that such photographs, videotapes, or images often depict the victim in a graphic and disturbing fashion, frequently nude, bruised, or bloodied. Such highly sensitive photographs, videotapes, or images of a victim of a sexual offense, if viewed, copied, or publicized, could result in trauma, sorrow, humiliation, or emotional injury to the victim and the victim's family.
"By this ruling, the court has substituted its judgment over that of the elected representatives of the people of Florida", Crist said. "To that end, I have instructed our lawyers to file an emergency motion with the Second District Court of Appeal to stay the effect of its order to allow further review by the Florida Supreme Court." 11-17-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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