ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Update: The State Attorney's Office has officially filed the motion to reinstate the death penalty in Joseph Smith’s case.
Original story below:
At least one state attorney says he will look to get a Florida inmate back on death row following a major decision by the state Supreme Court Thursday.
The office of Ed Brodsky, the State Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit, told 10News Friday: “Based on the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion and State v. Poole, our office will be filing the appropriate motion to reimpose Joseph Smith’s death sentence.”
Smith was sentenced to death in 2006 after he was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia. Smith’s death sentence was overturned in 2018 because the jury that recommended the death sentence wasn't unanimous in their votes.
This week, the court ruled that juries do not have to vote unanimously for a death sentence to be imposed. The ruling said the court “got it wrong” in 2016 when it required unanimous jury recommendations for death sentences.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, there are 340 inmates currently on the state’s death row roster.
At least 33 of those inmates had their death sentences overturned over the 2016 court ruling, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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