TALLAHASSEE (970 WFLA) -- The Florida Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a child in 2004.
Sarasota auto mechanic Joseph R. Smith was sent to death row for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 11 year old Carlie Brucia.
The jury voted 10-2 for death, but a U-S Supreme Court ruling applied retroactively says jury verdicts have to be unanimous.
Smith will get a new sentencing hearing.
Carlie Brucia was walking behind a car wash on the night of the Super Bowl in 2004 when surveillance video showed a man grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off. That surveillance video drew nationwide attention to the search for Brucia and her killer. Detectives said Smith took the child, raped her and left her body behind a church. He was convicted by a Sarasota jury in 2005.