How kidnapper-murderer was caught

worldnetdaily.com ^ | 2/9/04 | Joe Farah

[ovrtaxt]

How kidnapper-murderer was caught

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Posted: February 9, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The nation's attention was riveted last week to the case of an 11-year-old girl, Carlie Brucia, whose kidnapping was caught on a car-wash surveillance camera.

Carlie was later found dead.

There are several things to be learned from this tragedy.

As we all know, the tattooed mechanic, Joseph P. Smith, charged with kidnapping and killing Carlie, had been arrested at least 13 times in Florida since 1993.

Thirteen times. Think about that. A 13-time loser.

In 1997, in Bradenton, Fla., north of Sarasota, he was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment for allegedly grabbing a 20-year-old woman on the street and threatening to stab her if she screamed. The woman escaped after a passing vehicle stopped. At his trial, Smith testified he had been trying to prevent the woman from running into the street and she had misunderstood him. The jury acquitted him.

He served 17 months in prison in 2001 and 2002 for heroin possession and prescription-drug fraud. Eight days after he got out, he was arrested for cocaine possession and placed on probation for three years. He also got probation for aggravated battery in 1993 and heroin charges in 1999.

A state corrections official, Joe Papy, said a probation officer had asked a judge Dec. 30 to declare Smith in violation of his probation because he had not paid all his fines and court costs.

Papy said Circuit Judge Harry Rapkin declined to find Smith in violation, which could have returned him to jail. The judge defended his decision, saying the probation officer never sent him the evidence he requested that Smith had willfully refused to pay.

Now there are several obvious lessons right here:

• This judge needs to go. He needs to be impeached. He needs to be disgraced. He needs to be papered by every attorney that appears before him. He's got blood on his hands – as do literally thousands of other judges like him across this country. It's time they are forced to take responsibility for their actions – and inactions.

• Understand that the police and government did nothing to prevent this heinous crime from happening. Nor did they do anything to find the girl while she was still alive. No Amber Alert was issued until the day after she disappeared because there "wasn't any evidence of an abduction." What's the purpose of an Amber Alert? There might not be evidence of an abduction for years after it occurs. Only after bloodhounds tracked the girl to the car wash and the owner of the car wash checked the surveillance tape (which he set up to monitor employee thefts from cars) did the Amber Alert go out.

• It was a citizen (the suspect Joseph Smith's female housemate) who recognized him from the media coverage of abduction tape and told police to "come and get him."

• According to news reports, the body was found after "negotiations" with the suspect.

Let's recognize what really happened here. A car-wash owner, the media and a concerned citizen solved this crime.

This is so often the case. This is how the D.C. Sniper case was cracked. Yet, books are written by and movies are made about the police chief, not by and about the honest citizens who actually found the criminals. It happens more than we realize it.

The police, despite all the money spent on these Amber Alerts, etc. managed to slap the handcuffs on and that's about it. Too little, too late.

What did government do? What was its role in the crime? It ignored all the warning signs that this man was dangerous and a lifelong criminal. It all but ensured Joseph P. Smith would be there that day Carlie walked through the car wash.

Over and over again, Smith was sentenced to "community service" for his crimes. This is the kind of unrepentant criminal who should be isolated from the community.

My point? Government doesn't prevent crimes. Government doesn't solve crimes. Government doesn't punish crimes. Government fosters crime. Government encourages crime. Government enables crime.

[ovrtaxt]

Food for thought. Well, the government did show up with bloodhounds, and put the pieces together. But he's right about the Amber Alert issue. In fact, on Monday night, Carly's mom was on local TV in tears, upset that it had taken them so long to issue the alert. They didn't issue it until the videotape was released. Shortly after that interview, the national media took up the story.

Bureaucracy at it's best.

[anniegetyourgun]

An interesting analysis - thanks for posting.

[hotpotato]

My point? Government doesn't prevent crimes. Government doesn't solve crimes. Government doesn't punish crimes. Government fosters crime. Government encourages crime. Government enables crime.

But it was citizens that acquited him on his first kidnapping charge.

[hotpotato]

acquited -> acquitted

[jocon307]

"But it was citizens that acquited him on his first kidnapping charge."

And that's why they call it Flori-duh.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

A car-wash owner, the media and a concerned citizen solved this crime.

This is so often the case. This is how the D.C. Sniper case was cracked. Yet, books are written by and movies are made about the police chief, not by and about the honest citizens who actually found the criminals.

Saw Chief Moose's book on the shelf in the library yesterday. I really want to read about how the perpetrator was obviously a "white man in a white van." </sarcasm>

[corlorde]

The next story I'd like to hear is, how the kidnapper-killer of babies- was executed.

[q_an_a]

the real story, that is hidden here, is that poor people are treated differently than rich people. the mother and her neighbors apparently live in a tough part of town. the little girl lived near the felon and a car wash. this is industrial not gentrified urban living. these are working people and they get a different level of treatment.

I am not suggesting that money solves these problems, only that there are differences in how people act and react based upon the way people communicate and how they look to others. Even RATS knew that the "great society" was going to leave out poor whites in rural and urban areas in favor of minorities. "the poor are always with us."

[silverdog]

The next time you hear someone (freeper or dim) decrying the installation of surveillance cameras in public places as an invasion of privacy, remember this case.

[lilypad]

And how many times was Saddam given second chances????

[Poohbah]

According to news reports, the body was found after "negotiations" with the suspect.

The story I heard is that Smith blabbed to a cellmate...and that he didn't "negotiate" with the authorities.

Warm up Sparky!

[NonValueAdded]

As with other articles, this one focuses too much on Rapkin and not on the more serious transgressions that preceded Rapkin's mistake. Rapkin should be taken care of when he is up for a retention vote this year. But how about the judge that placed Smith on probation in the first place? We don't hear anything about him or her and that transgression seems even more blatant than Rapkin's. How about the jury and the defense attorney that got Smith off from the first kidnapping charge or the inept prosecutor that lost the case? I don't mean to minimize Rapkin's role in this but let's not overlook the problems in the system that put 13 time losers on the street in the first place.

[Publius6961]

Circuit Judge Harry Rapkin declined to find Smith in violation, which could have returned him to jail. The judge defended his decision, saying the probation officer never sent him the evidence he requested that Smith had willfully refused to pay.

A patently impossible task. This judge should be on trial himself, for stupidity and incompetence.

This judge needs to go. He needs to be impeached. He needs to be disgraced. He needs to be papered by every attorney that appears before him. He's got blood on his hands – as do literally thousands of other judges like him across this country. It's time they are forced to take responsibility for their actions – and inactions.

Amen!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

The Amber Alert worked properly in this case.

There cannot be an Amber Alert issued unless they have evidence of a kidnapping. As soon as the videotape came to light they issued an Amber Alert.

If it didn't have strict criteria we would have a couple thousand Amber Alerts a day and they would be meaningless.

[reagan_fanatic]

This demon has an appointment with satan in hell. It is society's duty to send him there.

[tdadams]

Every time I see something about Chief Moose, I feel sorry for law enforcement officers.

This man's actions during the D.C. sniper search was the height of incompetence and ineptitude. It was true Keystone Cops. Yet, when the sniper is found, through no effort of his, he stands up and takes credit, writes a book and makes millions. All because his was the face on the news every night.

[pa_dweller]

This is the kind of unrepentant criminal who should be isolated from the community.

Yeah, by six feet of dirt.

[biblewonk]

My point? Government doesn't prevent crimes. Government doesn't solve crimes. Government doesn't punish crimes. Government fosters crime. Government encourages crime. Government enables crime.

What a stupid point. The indignation is misplaced.

[Triple Word Score]

I think you're right.

And there's no law that can prevent a Smith from killing somebody, obviously.

It's what we do with the known rapists/killers that makes society more or less safe.

[ameribbean expat]

articles like this underscore why wnd is, at best, a third rate news source. farah is an idiot. the probation violation was for unpaid court costs. florida has a state constitutional provision prohibiting imprisonment for unpaid debts. the judge asked for evidence that this was "willful" disregard of a court order to pay, ie-- did he have the money and pissed it away on, oh, say drugs?

you want to say mandatory drug testing should have been part of his probation, i'm with you. especially in light of this guy's history. but farah is so far off base with his analysis on the probation point--specifically because he did not delve into the facts, rather than the emotions surrounding the case-- that he destroys his credibility.