VAN NUYS : Closing Arguments Due in Robbery Case

Capping a three-week trial, attorneys will make closing arguments today to a Superior Court jury hearing the case of a Panorama City man accused of seven in-home armed robberies and the rape of a police officer’s daughter during one of those robberies.

Robert Smith, 25, is charged with 36 felony counts, including five that carry life prison terms. Prosecutors allege that he and shotgun-toting accomplices broke into the San Fernando Valhey homes during a 10-day period in April, 1991.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Richman presented evidence that Smith, when arrested, had items in his possession that were stolen during some of the robberies.

Defense attorney Curtis V. Leftwich called only two people to the witness stand on behalf of his client. One woman testified that Smith was in Atascadero, Calif., on April 6, 1991, a day on which the prosecution alleges Smith broke into three homes.

Although he did not make an opening statement, Leftwich commented to a reporter that the jury is faced with a complex case.

“The issue is identification, and my client wasn’t there,” Leftwich said. The defense will focus on “the inconsistencies in the identifications,” he said, made by victims who described their attackers to police.