Rape Defendant Called ‘Lowest Form of Life’ : Crime: Prosecutor urges jury to convict Robert (Snake) Smith of robbing seven homes and assaulting a police officer’s daughter.

Calling Robert (Snake) Smith “the lowest form of life on earth,” a prosecutor Wednesday urged a jury to convict the Panorama City man of raping a police officer’s daughter and committing seven residential armed robberies.

“The only thing I smell here, ladies and gentlemen, is snake cooking over an open fire,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Richman.

“Stick a fork in him because he’s done,” Richman said as he asked a Van Nuys Superior Court jury to find Smith guilty of 36 charges, punishable with five life prison terms.

The prosecutor characterized Smith as a “a masked, malicious, marauding robber” who was enjoying himself when he terrorized six families during a 10-day crime spree in April, 1991.

Richman’s colorful closing argument was followed by a somber analysis of the case by defense attorney Curtis V. Leftwich, who argued that Smith had been misidentified by victims.

The comments to the jury concluded a three-week trial for Smith, 25, who is accused of leading a small group of bandits who specialized in early-morning, home-invasion robberies. Police arrested Smith after he allegedly broke into his seventh target, but no one was home.

Physical evidence links Smith to five of the incidents, prosecutors argued, but said his distinctive MO, or mode of operation, shows that he committed all seven crimes.

In one incident, a mother and daughter were surprised by two shotgun-toting men in their Panorama City home. As in most of the other cases, the victims were brought into the living room and covered with a blanket.

But when one of the men discovered that a Burbank police officer owned the home, according to the testimony, he flew into a rage and raped the officer’s 15-year-old daughter.

“Her mother could hear her screaming how much it hurt,” Richman said as one female juror appeared to fight back tears.

The teen-age girl identified Smith as her rapist during both a live lineup and in court. DNA evidence introduced in the trial indicated that Smith was the attacker. A shotgun stolen from the home was found when Smith was arrested, the prosecution maintains, and the officer’s electric razor was found in Smith’s residence.

Richman told the jury that Smith’s identify was revealed at one robbery when an accomplice referred to him as “Snake.” Smith has that word tattooed on his arm, and jurors saw letters addressed to Smith that began “Yo, Snake.”

“He is a criminal who needs to be put away so he can’t do it to anyone else,” Richman said.

Focusing on the legal issues of reasonable doubt and the reliability of eyewitness identification, Smith’s attorney said, “The crux of the issue here . . . is identity.”

Leftwich argued that various witnesses gave conflicting descriptions of the robber.

“As we go through each incident one by one, you’ll see there are vast differences,” Leftwich said. “What the prosecution is trying to do here is force a square peg into a round hole.”

Leftwich acknowledged that Smith was in possession of several items that had been stolen during the robbery spree, but denied that made his client the robber.