SARASOTA, Fla. — Carlie Brucia did not deserve to die, but what about the man convicted of raping and killing the popular 11-year-old middle school student? Does Joseph Smith deserve to die for his crimes, or would society be better served if he spent the rest of his years behind bars?

Before Judge Andrew Owens Jr. decides whether to follow a jury's recommendation that Smith be sentenced to death, Florida law requires that the judge afford Smith and his lawyers one more chance to argue that his life is worth sparing.

Owens began that process Monday in courtroom 4A, two floors above the much-larger venue for Smith's nationally publicized trial late last year.

While Smith sat at the defense table in his yellow prison jumpsuit, Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebrugge entered into evidence some of the thousands of pages of police reports, hospital records and physicians' notes that he hopes will show that Smith was hopelessly addicted to drugs.

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The defense's position is that were it not for Smith's years of addiction to cocaine, heroin and other drugs, he never would have found himself outside of Evie's Car Wash in February 2004. That's where security cameras captured Smith, wearing a mechanic's uniform, as he grabbed Carlie Brucia by the arm and led her away.

Carlie's partially naked body was discovered on the grounds of a nearby church five days later, in the area where Smith told his brother it could be found.

Sparring with prosecutors about the admissibility of hospital records, Tebrugge argued that Smith had a long-standing addiction that he could not kick.

"The defendant repeatedly sought help for his problems and was either denied help or was given ineffective assistance for his problems," said Tebrugge, who managed to get most of the records entered into the record. "The defendant has a long and well-documented history of mental illness. And the defendant has a long and well-documented history of drug abuse ... I think you will see Mr. Smith was legitimately trying to stay off narcotics, but failed."

To underscore the point, the defense's only live witness, so far, testified to seeing the telltale track marks of hypodermic needles in photos taken of Smith three days after the murder. Medical examiner Russell Vega testified that he saw the marks on the crook of Smith's left elbow and the dorsal side of a thumb.

Riva, the prosecutor, questioned whether the marks could have been created after the killing and before Smith's arrest.

"He could have injected himself with a drug of some kind after she was killed. Is that fair?" Riva asked.

"That's correct," Vega said. "It's hard to say."

Judge Owens also heard Monday from several of Carlie's relatives, family friends and a teacher.

All spoke in fond tones of the sixth grader who attended Macintosh Middle School. In keeping with court precedents, all the witnesses spoke of how the murder affected them, but none urged the judge to impose the death sentence that jurors recommended by a 10-2 vote on Dec. 1, 2005.

Carlie's mother, Susan Schorpen, is incarcerated on a drug-related charge, but submitted a statement to the court that was read by prosecutor Debra Johnes Riva.

"I have self-medicated myself to stop feeling, to become completely numb because the pain that is my reality has become too much to bear," Schorpen wrote. "I feel so broke. I will not find closure it does not exist."

Family friend Cheri Langworthy, whose daughter Mandi was one of Carlie's best friends, said the murder touched so many lives in different ways.

"Carlie was a godsend, a little blue-eyed, blonde-haired angel," Langworthy said.

According to Langworthy, Mandi put on 60 pounds since the murder, is doing poorly in school and did not benefit from counseling.

"She is depressed, even though she denies it. She doesn't make friends," Langworthy said. "The phone doesn't ring for her anymore ... Mandi is broken and I don't know how to fix her."

Other prosecution witnesses agreed that Carlie was a special child.

"She was a role model to those who struggle and needed someone to emulate," said Nicole Gilliland, a special education teacher at Carlie's school. "Carlie's life and death have truly touched people everywhere."

When the hearing concludes Tuesday or Wednesday, Owens will give the attorneys several weeks to submit final arguments in writing. Smith will be sentenced on March 15.

The hearing, which resumes Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET, is being shown live on the Web at Court TV Extra.