Protesters rallied outside courthouse demanding justice for Carlie Brucia

Protesters gathered outside the Sarasota County courthouse Thursday to demand justice for 11-year-old Carlie Brucia after a hearing for the man convicted of kidnapping, raping and strangling her to death was canceled.

Court proceedings have been halted in the re-sentencing of Joseph Smith for the 2004 kidnapping, rape and murder of Carlie as the state appeals the District Court of Appeal’s decision to vacate his death sentence in the wake of changes to Florida’s death penalty laws.

The same victim’s advocate who helped Carlie’s mother during the trial years ago organized the rally, which was held to coincide with Smith’s canceled case management hearing as a result of the appeal.

“Carlie no longer has a voice and doesn’t have a mother here to be a voice for her. Justice for Carlie is very important,” Judy Cornet told the Bradenton Herald. “Joe Smith murdered her brutally, leaving her body in a wooded area.”

Carlie’s mother died earlier this year before that ruling was made, however, from an overdose after years of suffering from addiction.

On Feb. 1, 2004, Carlie was walking home from a friend’s house when Smith abducted her as she passed the back of Evie’s Car Wash, 4715 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota. Her abduction was captured by the car wash’s video surveillance system and used as key evidence at Smith’s trial.

Carlie’s body was later found near Central Church of Christ, 6221 Proctor Road, after Smith’s arrest and the confession that followed.

In July, a judge vacated Smith’s death sentence, but he was not granted an automatic life sentence as his defense sought. Instead, Smith was granted a new penalty phase of his trial, which would still allow the state the opportunity to again seek the death penalty under Florida’s new law.

“Unfortunately, those who will go before a judge will have the opportunity for re-sentencing and could be taken off a death row and given a life sentence,” Cornet said. “This is unfair. Carlie Brucia did not get a second chance; why should Joe Smith?”

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Protesters rallied outside courthouse demanding justice for Carlie Brucia."