Kevin E. Smith robbed two western Schuylkill County banks in June 2012, a jury decided Wednesday.
After deliberating a little more than two hours, the jury of seven men and five women pronounced Smith, 29, of Harrisburg, guilty of two counts each of robbery, theft and receiving stolen property.
"We're very pleased with the verdict," First Assistant District Attorney Thomas J. Campion Jr. said. "The Pennsylvania State Police put a lot of time and effort into this."
Smith, who did not testify in his own defense, showed no emotion when the verdict was read.
Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin, who presided over the three-day trial, ordered a presentence investigation and said he would schedule Smith's sentencing within 60 days.
Following the verdict, sheriff's deputies handcuffed Smith and returned him to the county prison, where he is being held in lieu of $300,000 straight cash bail.
State police at Schuylkill Haven filed both sets of charges against Smith, alleging he robbed Miners Bank, 29 E. Main St., Tremont, about 11:30 a.m. June 6, 2012, and Halifax National Bank, 920 E. Wiconisco Ave., Tower City, about 10:10 a.m. June 29, 2012.
Prosecutors presented testimony from six bank employees, three from each office, who identified Smith as the robber, and Campion stressed their evidence Wednesday in his closing argument.
"They told you how close they were to the defendant," he said. "(One) told you she was watching him the whole time."
Campion also said Alicia Williams, Smith's girlfriend, had identified him as the person in one of the photos taken from bank surveillance cameras, even though she expressed uncertainty during her trial testimony.
"In her own words, a signed written statement, 'I was shown a photo, it was Kevin Smith in the photo,' " he said.
Campion also reminded jurors that, according to Williams, Smith had told her, "You ask too many questions" when she wanted to know where he got the more than the $3,700 in cash they used to buy a car.
Assistant Public Defender Lora J. McDonald, Smith's lawyer, emphasized Wednesday in her closing argument that a seventh bank employee could not identify Smith as the robber in the Tremont case, saying that should create reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds.
"This is a case, quite simply, of mistaken identity," McDonald said. "That person is not Kevin Smith."
McDonald said the six employees who identified Smith were not lying but were inaccurately recalling the situations.
"It was a short amount of time," she said. "The mind works differently in a traumatic situation."
McDonald also said Smith's two alibi witnesses, Joseph Lyles and Justin Lloyd, proved he was with them, searching for scrap metal in exchange for cash, instead of at the banks during the robberies. Lyles was certain Smith was with him June 6, while Lloyd was certain he was with him June 29, according to McDonald.
Campion, however, reminded jurors that neither Lyles nor Lloyd produced any documentation for their claims, that each was a family friend of Smith and that Chief County Detective Dennis Clark and county Detective Martin Heckman showed Lloyd's testimony differed from the statement he had given to them in March.
"I suggest to you that the defendant's alibi witnesses lack credibility," Campion said.
After the verdict, Campion said he would ask Dolbin to impose consecutive prison sentences on Smith. He also complimented the jury for their work.
"Over two days of testimony, it was a lot of testimony and evidence to take in," he said. "I think they did a good job of doing that."
McDonald declined to comment on the case after the verdict. Defendant: Kevin E. Smith
Age: 29
Residence: Harrisburg
Verdict: Guilty of two counts each of robbery, theft and receiving stolen property