Video Early Key In Brucia Case
Potentially damaging testimony Tuesday in the trial of the man accused in the taped abduction, and rape and murder of 11-year old Carlie Brucia.
Former friends and coworkers said they recognized Joseph P. Smith in a surveillance video that shows someone approaching Brucia in a car wash parking lot in February 2004, reports Bill McGinty of CBS Tampa affiliate WTSP-TV.
The video brought the case nationwide notoriety at the time, and was the focal point of testimony Tuesday, McGinty says.
Sheriff's detective Toby Davis told jurors detectives released the tape to the media because Brucia's mother and stepfather didn't know who the man in the video was.
"When that happened, we started to get calls," said Davis, who's with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
One of the callers was Ed Dinyes, a coworker and friend of Joseph Smith, who saw the video on TV.
"And I just said … 'What the "F" is he doing?' " said Dinyes. "And then I watched him reach out for the girl, and it was like he was picking up a wrench. I have seen him pick up tools at work like that, and I just knew it was him."
Three people testified that they recognized Smith from the video, including Jeff Pincus, who owned the car police say Smith was using when he kidnapped Brucia.
The defense interjected that many people were identified in the video, not just Smith.
Late in the day, prosecutors made a point of calling to attention the dramatic change in Smith's appearance in the last 22 months.
Lynn Dinyes, a former friend of Smith's said, "He is much heavier and his hair is longer, maybe with a different haircut."
Jurors were even shown a photo of Smith taken at the time of his arrest, so they could see the changes for themselves.
People in the courtroom say some jurors have been scanning their eyes from the video of Smith to the man sitting before them, obviously making their own comparison.
And, says McGinty, the defense continues to pick away at the videotape, raising the possibility that perhaps it isn't Smith in it.
Remember, McGinty points out, all the defense needs to do is place reasonable doubt in the mind of just one juror.