‘No evidence’ that Paul Flores killed Kristin Smart? Attorneys offer arguments as hearing ends

A preliminary hearing for the men accused in the disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart wrapped up Monday afternoon in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.

Now a judge must decide whether to send the case against Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, to trial.

Paul Flores is the last person known to have seen the 19-year-old freshman alive after walking her back from a party toward the Cal Poly campus residence halls on May 24, 1996.

Smart’s body has never been found, but investigators said in court documents that her remains were buried at Ruben Flores’ Arroyo Grande home but recently moved.

Paul Flores, now 44, is accused of murdering Smart, while his 80-year-old father is accused of accessory for his alleged role in helping his son cover up the crime. They have pleaded not guilty.

After testimony in the preliminary hearing concluded Monday afternoon, attorneys on both sides laid out their closing arguments on Monday.

The prosecution contended that Paul Flores repeatedly lied to investigators to cover his tracks after he killed Smart. But defense attorneys said the evidence doesn’t add up, adding that it hasn’t been proven that Flores or anyone else committed a crime.

Monday marked the 22th full day of proceedings as the evidentiary hearing, which began Aug. 2, kicked off its seventh week.

Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen heard testimony from Jennifer Hudson, who allegedly heard Paul Flores say he “took care of” Smart, as well as Det. Clint Cole, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office’s lead investigator in the Smart case, and Ruben Flores’ neighbor Jami Lyn Holman.

On Wednesday, van Rooyen will rule whether prosecutors established probable cause — a lesser standard of proof than guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — to proceed the case toward trial.

Prosecution: Paul Flores lied to cover up Smart murder

In his closing arguments Monday, Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle said that Paul Flores lied on multiple occasions to investigators, with Flores’ comments contradicting statements made by multiple witnesses.

For instance, Flores denied that he was interested in Smart after telling another attendee at the party that he thought she was “good looking,” the prosecutor said.

Peuvrelle also questioned Flores’ explanation that he sustained a black eye while playing basketball — despite one of Flores’ friends saying the defendant he didn’t have a black eye on the day they played basketball.

“The only way the black eye occurred was when he was killing Kristin Smart,” Peuvrelle said. “And he lied to cover it up.”

In addition, Flores told law enforcement that he didn’t know where Smart’s dorm room was. But another student said he saw Flores hanging around Smart in her room, Peuvrelle said Monday.

Peuvrelle also brought up witnesses’ accounts that Smart was passed out for two hours in view of people at the party. The prosecutor said she was inebriated to the point of hardly being able to walk — requiring help from Tim Davis and Cheryl Anderson, who escorted her for part of the way to her dorm.

That was before Flores “came out of the darkness” and repeatedly told Anderson he could take Smart back to her room by himself, Peuvrelle said.

Flores told investigators that Smart walked uphill toward her dorm on her own. Peuvrelle said that claim is “nonsensical and ridiculous.”

“The only reason the lies are so pervasive and repeatable is to cover up (Smart’s killing),” Peuvrelle said.

The prosecutor said Smart had a weekly call with her parents and showed no indications she was planning to disappear, rather adding that she had “good news” to share with them.

According to Peuvrelle, witness Jennifer Hudson heard Flores admit to the crime at a party in 1996, but was too afraid to come forward at the time.

Also on Monday, the prosecution discussed physical evidence in the case, noting that multiple dogs traced the scent of human decomposition to Flores’ former dorm room.

Peuvrelle also pointed to indications that the ground behind Ruben Flores’ home in Arroyo Grande had been dug up and filled back in as well as the discovery of soil stains consistent with human decomposition and fibers matching the clothing Smart was last seen wearing.

But Robert Sanger, one of Ruben Flores’ attorneys, said the red fibers found in Flores’ yard could have come from a pink string used by a contractor to lay concrete.

When Smart’s father went to Ruben Flores’ home to try to talk to him in 1996, Peuvrelle said Stan Smart was told to leave or “someone will get shot.”

“That’s the behavior of someone who doesn’t want someone to see what they’re hiding,” Peuvrelle said Monday. “Disposal of a body in and of itself is reason for his guilt.”

Defense argues lack of evidence in case

Robert Sanger, one of Paul Flores’ attorneys, said Monday that there’s “no case” against his client considering that nobody knows what happened to Smart and there’s “no consistent theory” about where her body is.

“They were both drinking and went their separate ways,” Sanger said.

Sanger said that Smart could have gotten into a car with someone or disappeared otherwise, saying there’s “no evidence” and the case shouldn’t go any further.

As part of his argument, Sanger added that dogs can alert due to false alarms and that an ex-boyfriend of Smart’s had burned her shoes and written her a critical note.

“I’m not saying the (ex-boyfriend) did it,” Sanger said. “I’m saying there’s no evidence anyone had done it.”

As for Flores’ black eye, Sanger said that Flores could have sustained it playing basketball but the bruise didn’t show up right away.

Although Hudson testified that Flores said in 1996 he “took care of” Smart and her body was buried near a skate ramp in Huasna, Sanger said she wasn’t a credible witness — citing her “own issues.”

On Monday, Hudson acknowledged using methamphetamine off and on, but said she wasn’t doing so at the time she’d met Flores and heard his statement. Nor has her memory been affected, she said.

Sanger added that Chris Lambert, whose podcast “Your Own Backyard” explores the Smart case, influenced Hudson’s knowledge of the case by sharing information about what kind of truck Flores may have been driving at the time.

“There’s no consistent theory about where (Smart) is,” Sanger said. “Where did the body go? What is their theory?”

Ruben Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, said that Flores and his family “feel sad for the Smart family.”

But Mesick argued that the court shouldn’t compound a “tragedy with a nightmare” by sending two innocent people to trial.

“I wish there could be answers to basic questions,” Mesick said. “The people have to prove something has happened. We don’t know what happened.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 7:58 PM with the headline "‘No evidence’ that Paul Flores killed Kristin Smart? Attorneys offer arguments as hearing ends."