Neo-Nazi calls killer 'friend' and 'mentor'

UPDATE

DADE CITY -- If you judge a man by the company he keeps, well then, what if 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 appeared 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 infamous 2006 Teak Street stabbing attack in New Port Richey.

"Mr. Ditullio," Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper said, "would you raise your right hand to receive 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. If 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 also 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 because 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 correct?"

"Yes," Ditullio said.

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

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

Ditullio has also been accused of an elaborate escape attempt, of keeping contraband in his cell, and most recently this 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 in the brutal beating of his ex-girlfriend before the 2006 stabbings.

Nor did they learn why he wasn't brought to court: he was considered a security 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 in jail. [Mike Pease | Times]

2 p.m.:

DADE CITY -- The state rested its case this morning in the sentencing retrial of convicted murderer Lawrence Joey Smith, who then 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 let him call a key character witness this 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 2006. He said Smith has been a positive influence on him.

Smith already has been convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder. His conviction was upheld, but his death sentence was overturned in 2004 because 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 outside the presence of the jury, Ditullio appeared 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 hear from Ditullio, who still awaits trial on his own charges, this afternoon.

Ditullio was not brought to court because of security reasons.

-- Jamal Thalji and Mike Pease, Times staff writers

Comments

[Adolf]

Boy, Ditullio is certainly a good Aryan name, isn't it? What a bunch of morons.

[RE]

There are two upstanding pillars of society if ever there were any! What a waste of humanity those two and others like them are. Let's drain the gene puddle and let them flop like like fish until they croak.

[mrowdy]

Would you believe this guy?

[TheSaltKing]

I believe him.
!!!!!McCAIN '08!!!!!!

[Rodger]

Smith says he isnt the same person he once was of course he isnt now he is gay, and in prison. If this is the best character witness this guy can find then he may as well just plead guilty.

[Edward]

If there ever was an argument for lifetime incarceration with zero chance for parole, this is it (both gentlemen).

[Bill]

It's ashame that FL taxpayers paying to keep these buffoons alive. These Neo-Nazi killers with their neanderthal mentality should not even be breathing anymore. At least we can hope they'll just rot behind bars.

[George]

Ditullio and Smith are currently "incompatible" with each other...mainly because Smith plays jail house lawyer and gives out crappy legal advise. Oh, and he was in on the escape attempt too...

[Arminius]

@ George: How do you know that Joey was in on the escape attempt ?

[Hefra]

George, this is just a lie. And you know it ! You can look up every inmate and also look up the write ups. He never was in on a escape attempt.