By Ivan Delventhal, STAFF WRITER

Alameda County prosecutors on Wed-nesday charged a 53-year-old man with murder in connection with a lethal beating in Hayward over the weekend.

Curtis Dwaine Norris of Hayward, dressed in a white city jail jumpsuit, cupped his bald head in the palm of his left hand as he was arraigned at the Hayward Hall of Justice. The district attorney also filed an enhancement charging Norris with wielding a deadly weapon, a metal pole, in the beating of David Richard Smith, 43, of Oakland.

Norris stared at the gallery in apparent disbelief and then choked up slightly when he told the judge he wanted to be referred to the public defender 's office. He did not enter a plea to the charges and is to return to court this morning to have a lawyer assigned to his case.

Judge Alfred Delucchi ordered that Norris be held without bail because of what the judge called a "substantial likelihood" that his release could result in grave harm to others.

A pedestrian found Smith's body sprawled in some bushes in the 22900 block of Grand Street at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. An autopsy concluded Smith died from a blow to the head from a blunt object.

During a search of the neighborhood Saturday, a patrol officer noticed what appeared to be traces of blood on the frontporch of a home across the street from where the body was found. Someone apparently had tried to clean up the blood, police said.

Norris was arrested Saturday night after going voluntarily to the police station to give a statement, police said.

Lt. Darryl McAllister said the apparent motive in the killing was jealousy. Smith, an acquaintance of the 29-year-old woman who lives in the Grand Street residence, had visited her Friday night.

Norris, who according to court documents was the woman's roommate and current boyfriend, was jealous of her involvement with Smith, McAllister said. The two men apparently feuded early Saturday and Norris allegedly bludgeoned Smith on the head with a 3-foot metal bar. Police said Norris then hurled the wounded man out onto the front porch of the home and later dragged him across the street and dumped his body in the bushes, where it was later found.

Outside of court, family members and friends described Smith as a gentle man who sought to help others as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor.

"For him to get killed like that, it just doesn't make any sense," said Paul Smith, 46, of Stockton, the victim's brother. "You don't do anybody like that."

Family members said Smith's father was in the U.S. Navy and Smith was born on Guam. The family later moved to Oakland, where Smith excelled at wrestling at Oakland High School. After high school, family members said, Smith spent three years in the U.S. Marine Corps before entering the counseling profession.

Darlene Horton of Oakland, who took notes during the brief court proceeding, said her brother was a supportive and generous man who did not have any enemies.

"I don't understand people's disrespect for human life," said Horton, 39.

Family members said they did not know Norris.

Court records show Norris has convictions for offenses including burglary, battery and theft dating back to 1969. He pleaded no contest in September to felony petty theft with a prior petty theft conviction for stealing four pairs of Tommy Hilfiger jeans, worth $158, a week earlier from Bay Fair mall in San Leandro. In October, he was placed on five years' felony probation and sentenced to 66 days in jail, time he had already served.

Court records state Norris has been convicted of petty theft in Alameda County four times since September 2002, including once for stealing 11 toothbrushes worth $28 and another time for stealing two $19 bottles of Smirnoff vodka.

A probation report prepared in connection with his most recent conviction states Norris is an admitted drug addict who has had no stable employment in the past decade.

Smith was the ninth person slain in Hayward this year.