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Despite the seriousness of the charges against him, Joseph Smith laughed with his attorney at one point Thursday. |
Watch a video of Judge Owens talking about crime scene evidence. | |
A Smith roommate already has testified in the first week of the trial that Smith borrowed his yellow station wagon on that Sunday and did not return it until after daybreak the next morning.
Assistant State Attorney Debra Johnes Riva said during the open-court debate over the video that expert witnesses will testify about the decay of Brucia's body.
After viewing the video, still photographs of the crime scene were introduced. As with the video, the jury, but not the courtroom audience, saw the photographs. After displaying the photographs, prosecutor Craig Schaeffer continued to cross-examine Lisa Lanham, a crime-scene technician with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, who recalled going to the medical examiner's office to retrieve the red shirt Carlie was wearing as evidence. She also said she took fingerprints - only nine, because what she described as "animal activity" had so damaged the 10th digit.
Asked by the defense whether representatives with other agencies had handled the evidence retrieved from the crime scene, Lanham answered, yes, the FBI had.
The last witness to take the stand Thursday, who works for the FBI, said a piece of hair that was found in the station wagon Smith allegedly drove is consistent with Brucia's.
Meanwhile, a group outside the courthouse passed out pink ribbons in remembrance of Brucia.
"We want her to be remembered as a little girl," a demonstrator said. "Not just as a case. Not just as a media thing."
The trial will resume Monday.
Information from Bay News 9's partner, The Herald, was used in this report. Pick up a copy of The Herald for the latest about the trial.
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