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Carlie's Law was a US Congressional bill introduced by Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL), with the support of Nick Lampson (D-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)^[1] in response to the kidnapping, rape and murder of Carlie Brucia, a child, by Joseph P. Smith, who was released from jail on probation at the time of Carlie's murder.

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 of 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 this law targets. His focus was on future similar, but not identical, cases.

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.^[2]

Background

Carlie Jane Brucia (March 16, 1992 – February 1, 2004) was raped and murdered by Joseph P. Smith after being kidnapped from a car wash near her home in Sarasota, Florida on February 1, 2004, while returning from a sleepover at a friend's house. She was reported missing by her mother, Susan Schorpen, and her stepfather, Steven Kansler, within a half 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, films Carlie being confronted by a man, later identified as Joe Smith, who then grabbed her arm and led her away toward a Buick that was spotted on another camera. The video was shown nationwide and spurred a massive manhunt for the abductor.

Arrest

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 at 3:24PM, the jury announced their verdict, that Smith was guilty as charged. On December 1, 2005, the jury, by a vote of 10 to 2, returned a recommendation for the death penalty. On March 15, 2006, the day before what would have been Carlie's fourteenth birthday, he was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment on the charges of sexual battery and kidnapping, and was sentenced to death by lethal injection for murder. The judge in the case was Circuit Court Judge Andrew D. Owens.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]

See also

• Jessica's Law
• Child murder

External links

• H.R. 4150(108): Carlie's Law - Full text of the bill and its current status.
• Court TV complete coverage of the Joseph Smith murder trial
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• CCTV Images
• Criminal justice system failed Carlie Brucia