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Conflicting scenarios emerge in Kristin Smart murder case

August 3, 2021

Paul Flores, photo by Tribune photographer David Middlecamp

By KAREN VELIE

During the first day of the preliminary hearing of Paul and Ruben Flores, prosecutors attempted to portray former Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart as part of a close knit family while the defense attorneys painted a picture of a young woman in crisis who was thinking of leaving the country.

Paul Flores is accused of murdering Smart during an attempted rape in 1996 following a party they both attended in San Luis Obispo. Charged with accessory after the fact, Ruben Flores is suspected of helping his son dispose of Smart’s body, which prosecutors believe was buried under a deck at his home.

Ruben Flores, photo by Tribune photographer David Middlecamp

Prosecutors first called Denise Smart, who choked up when mentioning her daughter’s name, to the stand. Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle focused on questions about her family, with answers that made it appear unlikely the freshman would leave and never look back.

While Denise Smart testified to the upbeat mood of her daughter during the week she disappeared, that assertion became suspect during cross examination.

Robert Sanger, Paul Flores’ defense attorney, asked Denise Smart if she was aware her daughter — who called herself Roxie — was failing out of school, was pregnant, had told friends she was considering moving to Canada and keeping the baby, and was applying for jobs as a model. Aside from knowledge of her daughter’s unhappiness and academic problems at Cal Poly, Denise Smart said she knew little about her daughter’s social life.

Stan Smart, the freshman’s father, testified his daughter spoke of moving to Thailand, but said it was a only pipe dream.

In response to a motion from Jeffry Radding, the attorney for Susan Flores, Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen ruled she would not be called to testify after Susan Flores said she planned to invoke her right against self-incrimination.

Kristin Smart

At the end of the day, two witnesses who had attended the party also testified.

Kendra Koed told the court she had kissed Paul Flores at the party, before pushing him away. Koed described Kristin Smart as “highly intoxicated.” After Koed asked Kristin Smart if she could walk her home, Krisitn Smart declined the offer saying she was waiting for someone.

The preliminary hearing will determine if Paul Flores should be put on trial for murder. The hearing is expected to last up to three weeks.

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Really, Susan? You’re going to continue to try to hide (behind atty. Jeffry Radding, defending the other publicly convicted local pervs)?


Which of you “mothers” who have a son in the running for the New Times newest award category, best ‘Local S.O.B.’ are going to start putting your foot down about your “little boys”? Jason Porter’s mom? Matt Bett’s mom? It’s time for parents to be parents. What else are you hiding, Susan? Maybe Judge Ginger knows.


6

Say what!


-3

Yes


1

I grew up in AG/SLO county I sat on a City of AG Comm.99-2005. we would see Susan F saying all this crap at city meetings Getting up have a this big long speech , I have been to cal poly parties to think of this poor young woman killed , too bad they could not hang these people , the poor family The smarts , Now Murphy is a very low class blood sucker, I hope they nail em! ..


2

Kristin has been held by the Flores family longer than life she had with her own family. At one point Paul was offered a 6 year manslaughter charge. I’m glad he will die in prison.


20

if they offered him 6 years he is not only a killer he is stupid on top of it,guilty as sin!


14

Who is the father of Miss Smarts baby ?? , he should be located and questioned in court .If he was a fellow student which is a probability or was he a Cal Poly employee or instructor helping Miss Smart with her grades .The father may not have wanted a baby in his life for many reasons


1

When you have a guilty client you attack the victim’s reputation and the integrity of the officers. Standard tactic from the criminal defense attorney’s playbook. Mr. Sanger is just doing the job he is getting paid to do. I do wonder if Mr. Sanger ever thinks to himself, while sitting next to Paul, “Thank God this fucker never crossed paths with my daughter Sarah.”


48

Who knows what daughter, Sarah, has witnessed!


5

The defense’s strategy is character assassination, exactly what Cal Poly’s was in their deliberate coverup. I knew a Cal Poly employee who knew exactly what the administration and corrupt police, not necessarily incompetent as they were doing “their job”, were doing and why. I knew ALL the dirt on Kristen because Cal Poly investigated her, not Paul, and shared her personal information, including HIPAA and other confidential student records violations on the sly to cover up the murder in the interest of the university’s reputation. Nothing new here, including the fact that Paul Flores is guilty. And the promise to tell her story to new students during WOW? A quickly abandoned lie for the same reason.


32

It is very sad that defense attorneys resort to smearing and blaming the victim. This is the same attorney that represented Michael Jackson in his trial in Santa Maria. The Flores’s are sparing no expense for their loser son. If they had just all done the right thing 25 years ago he would be a free and possibly rehabilitated man by now. Instead the torment continues for Kristen’s family and the Flores’s will be destitute, bitter and hopefully incarcerated.


34

What else are they hiding?


9

There are not two plausible scenarios here. There’s only one–unless you honestly believe that Kristin Smart hopped on an airplane to Thailand and became a failed model because no pictures of her ever emerged and she became so angry at her parents that she hasn’t spoken to them for 25 years. Total BS. The prosecution will ridicule these silly excuses in front of any jury.


45

Typical defense attorney move… “Let’s throw all this horse crap up against the wall. Maybe something will stick”.


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