Paul, Ruben Flores trial underway in death of Kristin Smart
Initial statements began Monday in the trial against the man accused of the murder of Kristin Smart, the Stockton student who disappeared more than 25 years ago, and her father who is charged with complicity in her death.
Prosecutors painted a picture of the now 45-year-old Paul Flores, who was circling Kristin Smart before her disappearance at a 1996 college party and who was involved in a pattern of non-consensual encounters with women.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys said Monday afternoon that their experts would contradict the prosecution’s arguments about the forensic findings.
Flowers is accused of murder of Smart, who was a 19-year-old student at California State Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo when disappeared on May 25, 1996. His father, Rubén Flores, is loaded as an accessory. The two men pleaded not guilty.
The trial before Monterey County High Court judge Jennifer O’Keefe began about 8:30 a.m. Monday. The trial was moved from San Luis Obispo County after a judge finds that widespread local knowledge of the case could skew potential jurors.
Prosecutors allege that Paul Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape in his dorm at Cal Poly, where they were both freshmen. They also report that Rubén Flores, now 81, helped bury the murdered student behind his house in the neighboring community of Arroyo Grande and later unearthed the remains and moved them.
Paul Flores was the last person seen with Smart as he drove home from an off-campus party where he reportedly became intoxicated.
Witnesses: Flores showed interest in Smart before disappearing
In his opening statement on Monday, St. Louis Bishop’s Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle described the testimony that Flores spent time in and around Smart’s bedroom.
Prosecution witnesses said Flores asked Smart several times at the party before she disappeared and spent several minutes with her in a bar area, before approaching her outside the party as two students. walking into a disabled smart home, according to Peuvrelle.
Previous coverage:Prosecutors are trying to prove the murder of Kristin Smart in 1996 without a corpse
“Once Kristin was gone, her hunt was over,” Peuvrelle said.
In subsequent interviews with investigators, Flores was inconsistent about some details of the way home from the party with Smart, Peuvrelle said, including whether she was sober enough to walk.
The prosecution also described the allegations of three women who claimed Flores drugged and sexually assaulted them after attending bars in Los Angeles County in 2007 and 2008.
The most extensive account so far:Prosecutors set out an expansive account of the case against Paul Flores
Paul Flores’ attorney, Robert Marshall Sanger, began his initial statement about 1:15 p.m.
“There’s no evidence of what happened to her after Paul Flores left her in the bedroom,” Sanger said. “There’s a lot of evidence that’s been referenced.”
Sanger said an animal behavior expert would testify for the defense he points out dogs sniffing corpses in Flores’ bedroom – and a change in the dogs ‘behavior near the roof of Rubén Flores’ house where prosecutors say Smart was buried – do not indicate that Smart’s body was ever located there.
Who was Kristin Smart?The missing Cal Poly student was happy, energetic and always smiling
The defense says authorities tried to catch Flores
“There’s nothing here that suggests this is a burial site,” Sanger said about the corner under Rubén Flores ’deck where prosecutors allege Smart’s body was buried.
Sanger said law enforcement officers did their best to catch Flores, including allegedly placing an informant in his prison cell during his detention for a parole violation years after Smart’s disappearance.
St. Louis County Sheriff Ian Parkinson has previously acknowledged detective missteps over the years and credited a popular podcast about the demise of Smart called “Your Own Backyard” for helping discover new information and inspire witnesses to talk to investigators.
Kristin Smart’s family on a previous court decision:“We are now one step closer to justice”
Researchers have made dozens of searches over two decades, but in the past two years they have focused their attention on Rubén Flores’ home, about 12 miles south of Cal Poly.
Behind the lattice work under the roof of his large house on a dead end street on Tally Ho Road, archaeologists working for police in March 2021 found a ground disturbance the size of a coffin and the presence of human blood, prosecutors said. . The blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample.
Rubén Flores’ initial statements began after the initial statements of his son’s trial ended. Those statements were scheduled to be completed on Tuesday.
The remains of Smart were not found, but she was allegedly killed in 2002.
The trial is expected to last about four months.
“Main suspect”:Paul Flores arrested in connection with the disappearance of Kristin Smart
Kristin Smart Timeline:24 years from the disappearance of the Cal Poly student to the arrest of a suspect
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Journalist Aaron Leathley deals with public safety. You can contact her at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
Paul, Ruben Flores trial underway in death of Kristin Smart Source link Paul, Ruben Flores trial underway in death of Kristin Smart
