SARASOTA COUNTY – Judges in Sarasota County are far tougher than their colleagues nationwide when it comes to releasing people from jail after an arrest, a study has found.

Florida laws call for judges to place the least restrictive conditions on pretrial release to assure appearance in court and the safety of the community.

But defendants looking to be released from Sarasota County’s jail before their trial are twice as likely to have to post a commercial bond.

And they are far less likely to be released based only on their promise to later show up in court — even first-time offenders for crimes like DUI or those charged with nonviolent crimes.

The study cites a surprising reason: Judges fear for their job if the person they release does something bad.

And much of it goes back to one of Sarasota’s most infamous cases: the abduction, rape and murder of 12-year-old Carlie Brucia, the study found.

The abduction was caught on a surveillance video that captured the nation’s attention, and when Joseph P. Smith was arrested a media firestorm rained on Circuit Judge Harry Rapkin, blaming him for letting Smith out of jail just before the crime.

While most in the local legal community defended Rapkin for following the law and said he did nothing wrong, even though Smith was a repeat offender, the flare-up caused the tough-on-crime Rapkin to retire.

It resonates even now, the study found.

Sarasota’s judges have “the overarching concern with the possibility of making ‘the wrong decision’ on release or bail, resulting in harm to persons and/or the community,” the study states.

Defense attorneys say they see it every day. And getting out of jail before trial can allow someone to keep their job, keep their place to live and help care for their family.

An arrest does not mean the person is guilty. About 40 percent of the time, defendants who were released before trial have their charges dropped or are acquitted, a U.S. Department of Justice study found.
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