SARASOTA, Fla. — A semen stain found on the back of the shirt 11-year-old Carlie Brucia was wearing when she was raped and strangled matches the genetic profile of defendant Joseph Smith to "1 in 92 quintillion" — that's a one followed by 18 zeroes — a FBI examiner testified Monday at the auto mechanic's capital murder trial.

"I'm able to say Joseph Smith is the source of that DNA to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty," the witness, Jennifer Luttman, said over defense objections that she did not perform the lab tests herself.

For prosecutors, the evidence is the cincher in their case against Smith.

Jurors have already heard that Smith resembles a man caught on tape abducting Carlie on Feb. 1, 2004, outside a car wash. They've also learned that he gave police a false alibi and told his brother that he got "carried away" during "rough sex" with the girl, whose body was discovered on the grounds of a church following a five-day search that made headlines worldwide.

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Attorneys for Smith, who could be sentenced to death if convicted, have yet to cross-examine Luttman. But based on cross-examinations of other prosecution witnesses, it is likely that Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebrugge will attack Luttman's conclusions as either subjective, unreliable, nonconclusive or inadequate because her team did not consider other possible explanations.

When medical examiner Dr. Russell Vega testified Monday, for example, Tebrugge challenged the coroner's opinion that wounds on Joseph Smith's hands and leg could have occurred during a struggle with Carlie. Vega was forced to concede that Smith's injuries were consistent with his employment as an auto mechanic.

Tebrugge also challenged Vega's conclusion that Carlie was the victim of sexual battery — which, if proven, could be an aggravating factor in favor of a death sentence.

"Would you agree that there was no clear-cut evidence from the body that it had undergone sexual assault?" Tebrugge asked.

"That's correct," Vega said.

Evidence of strangulation

Under direct questioning from Assistant State Attorney Debra Johnes Riva, Vega said that a wound to Smith's right pinky finger could have been sustained by a thin cord-like ligature — perhaps even a shoelace — that Vega believes was used to strangle Carlie.

"We could find that type of injury on the outside of the hand from friction from a cord," said Vega.

Vega testified that he determined soon after seeing the body that Carlie had been choked to death.

"The death was due to strangulation," Vega said. "At the scene, there were no glaring or obvious injuries to the torso or her head, no large lacerations, stab wounds, gunshot wounds ... There was also a ligature type of mark that was around her neck."

No ligature was found at the scene, and police never recovered Carlie's pants, underwear, left sock or pink backpack. Prosecutors contend that Smith told his brother, prosecution witness John Smith, that he discarded the items in area Dumpsters.

Vega also told the jury there was evidence that Carlie was dragged by her left hand while either unconscious or deceased, causing injuries to her right side.

Jurors, the defendant and victim's family displayed no emotion while autopsy photos were displayed in court; the judge shielded the images from the gallery's view and ordered that they not be broadcast or released to the public because they are graphic and disturbing.

Jurors also heard Monday from Neal Haskell, a forensic entomologist. Haskell and other experts in his field examine fly larvae, more commonly known as maggots, to offer an opinion about how long they have been feasting on a decomposing body before discovery. Haskell estimated that Carlie was murdered the night she was abducted, based on the development of the bugs collected at the crime scene.

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Tuesday or Wednesday.

The trial is being broadcast by Court TV and streamed on the Web by Court TV Extra.

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