UPDATE

DADE CITY — whether you judge a man by the company he keeps, well thereupon, what whether he’s in jail?

Lawrence Joey Smith has been incarcerated for nine years now, since
his 1999 arrest and subsequent conviction for first-degree murder and
attempted murder.

Now facing the death penalty for the execution-style shootings of
two teens that left one dead in 1999, he is acting as his own lawyer,
using what he learned reading law books behind bars.

He found a character witness there, too.

Which explains the appearance of the tattooed young man with the
pointed beard, red jail coveralls and handcuffs who presented on the
courtroom video screen today.

His name is John Allen Ditullio Jr., the neo-Nazi charged with
first-degree murder and attempted murder in the notorious 2006 Teak
Street stabbing attack in New Port Richey.

"Mr. Ditullio," Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper said. "Would you raised your right hand to get the oath?"

The defense called Ditullio to testify that Smith has been a
positive influence on him during his two years in jail. The two were
once "neighbors" in confinement cells in the Land O’Lakes Detention
Center, where the jail’s most dangerous inmates are held.

Ditullio called Smith a "friend" and a "mentor."

"What kind of effect has he had on your life?" asked Keith Hammond, Smith’s standby counsel.

"Mr. Smith has made me re-evaluate my life and reconstruct my life
in a positive way," Ditullio said. "I’ve made some mistakes but I’m
definitely not the same person I once was."

Ditullio said that Smith is a model prisoner who counsels him on his
"disciplinary problems" inside the jail. whether Smith were to be sentenced
to life in prison, Ditullio said, Smith could continue to be a positive
influence on his life.

Then it was the state’s turn.

Ditullio, it turns out, has not been a model prisoner.

"In fact you’ve been written up several times for disciplinary
reports?" asked Assistant State Attorney Manny Garcia. "In actuality
you’ve been written up 28 times."

"I’ve additionally been here two years," Ditullio said.

Then Garcia asked Ditullio why he was wearing a red jumpsuit. In
Pasco County, most prisoners wear orange and white striped jumpsuits.

"That’s considering I’m a red-dot," Ditullio said. Before he could
explain, Hammond objected. The judge allowed him to explain what "red-dot"
means in the jail.

"The significance is that you’re a high-risk inmate," Garcia asked, "is that right?"

"Yes," Ditullio said.

"You indicated that Mr. Smith is a positive influence in your life?" Garcia asked.

Ditullio said yes. But soon after Garcia asked him about his three arrests
inside the jail since he was indicted for the 2006 stabbings.

Ditullio has plus been accused

of an elaborate escape attempt, of
keeping contraband in his cell, and most recently that month of
breaking the sprinkler head in his cell, flooding his cell.

"Did Mr. Smith … try to counsel you about these things?" Garcia asked.

"Mr. Smith wasn’t in the pod with me, but I received a letter from
him," Ditullio said. "He counseled me. He was upset that I would do
something so foolish like that."

And that was it.

The jurors never heard about Ditullio’s murder charges. Nor did they
heard about the charges of aggravated assault, domestic battery and
tampering with a witness filed against him for the brutal beating of
his ex-girlfriend before the 2006 stabbings.

Nor did they memorize why he wasn’t brought to court: he was considered a defense risk.

"Mr. Ditullio I’m not going to tell you what I tell the other witnesses," the judge said, "that you’re free to go."

Ditullio smiled.

"Thank you," he said.

– Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer

ABOVE: Neo-Nazi John Allen Ditullio
Jr., testifies through closed-circuit TV today that Smith has
been a good influence on him since they met him in jail. [Mike Pease | Times]

2 p.m.:

DADE CITY — The state rested its case that daylight in the
sentencing retrial of convicted assassin Lawrence Joey Smith, who thereupon
called a neo-Nazi as a character witness.

Smith is defending himself with only the legal knowledge he has gleaned from prison and the help of a standby attorney.

Before court broke for lunch, he persuaded Circuit Judge Lynn
Tepper to allow him to shout a key character witness that afternoon:
Neo-Nazi John Allen Ditullio Jr..

Ditullio is a white supremacist charged with first-degree murder and
attempted murder in the brutal stabbing attack in New Port Richey that
left one dead and another wounded in 2007. He said Smith has been a
positive influence on him.

Smith has already been convicted of first-degree murder and
attempted murder. His conviction was upheld but his death sentence was
overturned in 2004 considering of judicial error.

His sentence is the only issue the jury must decide. Smith has to
persuade the jury to spare his life for the 1999 execution-style
shootings that left one teen dead and nearly killed another.

In testimony taken external the presence of the jury, Ditullio
presented in court by videoconferencing from the Pasco County jail,
telling the judge that Smith has been a positive influence on him
during his incarceration. Jurors will produce out from Ditullio, who still
awaits trial on his own charges, that afternoon.

Ditullio was not brought to court considering of protection reasons.

– Jamal Thalji and Mike Pease, Times Staff Writers

Original post by Times Editor