SALINAS, Calif. — A jury has found Paul Flores guilty of murdering Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in 1996.
After months of court proceedings, 12 jurors in a Salinas courtroom unanimously agreed Tuesday to convict Flores of first-degree murder, capping a San Luis Obispo mystery that has been unsolved for more than 26 years.
The jury found the 45-year-old San Pedro man guilty of willful, premeditated murder after deliberating for a total of four days.
“I wish to express to you appreciation and that of the parties for your service in this case,” Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe said to the jury after Flores’ verdict was read. “It is a great personal sacrifice to serve as a juror. ... You have been very attentive and conscientious throughout this case.”
Flores flinched as his verdict was read.
A separate jury acquitted Paul Flores’ father, 81-year-old Arroyo Grande resident Ruben Flores, of being an accessory to murder after the fact. He was accused of helping his son hide Smart’s body.
“You are fulfilling an extremely important role in our judicial system,” O’Keefe told Ruben Flores’ jurors. “Please accept our thanks for your time and our effort.”
Jurors are now allowed to discuss or not discuss their deliberations or verdict with anyone, the judge also told Paul Flores’ jury.
“If you chose to discuss the case with anyone, I encourage you to be thoughtful with your remarks,” O’Keefe said.
As the jury’s verdict was read Tuesday afternoon, the mood in the courtroom went from intense and heavy to a palpable sense of relief.
When the verdict was read, Kristin Smart’s father, Stan Smart, had a smile on his face.
He put his arm around her mother, Denise Smart, who was in tears after the verdict was read.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office officials turned around to the Smart family and shared nods after the verdict was read.
Supporters of Smart’s family planned to gather at her memorial Tuesday evening at Dinosaur Caves in Shell Beach for a music jam session celebrating the guilty verdict against Paul Flores.
Prosecutor Christopher Peuvrelle asked O’Keefe after Paul Flores’ verdict was read whether she intended to lift the gag order preventing parties to the trial from speaking about the case.
After Rubens Flores’ verdict was read, the court announced that legal counsel and representatives of their offices are released from the gag order only to discuss facts and evidence of the case.
Paul Flores will be sentenced Dec. 9.
Following the verdicts being read, Paul Flores’ defense attorney, Robert Sanger, told The Tribune that “the case is still pending” and declined to comment further.
During a news conference following his acquittal, Ruben Flores said he felt relieved by his verdict, but said he was disheartened by the conviction of his son.
“They had so much stuff they made up,” he said of the prosecution. “It was about feelings. It wasn’t about facts.”
Ruben Flores has been released from electronic monitoring and was discharged after the reading of the verdict.
During the conference, Ruben Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, said the case has been the one he is “most invested in on a personal level.” Mesick described Ruben Flores as “not just not guilty; he is absolutely innocent.”
“He never should have been charged, and I’m very pleased with the outcome,” Mesick said. “Love our system of justice.”
Mesick added: “There is just so much animosity towards this man and his family. There’s so much hate, and I really have never understood it. I understand that people are upset that Kristin is missing, I understand they want a person to be responsible for that. But just the ‘let’s lynch ‘em, let’s burn ‘em, let’s hang ‘em, let’s kill ‘em,’ — I don’t know where that came from in this country. And I wish the community who still feels that way would disabuse themselves of those feelings.”
Mesick said Ruben Flores now has to go home “and rebuild the deck that was destroyed.”
Additionally, Mesick said he feels there is “reasonable inference” Smart is still alive and that he thought Paul Flores’ attorney will likely file for a new trial since “there are plenty of grounds.”
“They did not prove her death,” he said.
Flores, 45, was on trial for the murder of Smart, who went missing after an off-campus party during Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Flores was the last person seen with the Stockton freshman as she walked back to her residence hall.
Paul Flores has long been the “prime suspect” in Smart’s disappearance. Over the years, the case has garnered a devoted following as it dragged out with seemingly few concrete answers as to what had happened to Smart.
Then, in April 2021, Flores and his father were arrested and charged in her murder.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution alleged Flores killed Smart in the course of an attempted rape.
“Paul Flores is guilty as sin,” Peuvrelle told the jury during his closing arguments. “Justice delayed does not have to be justice denied. You now know the truth of what happened.”
Meanwhile, Paul Flores’ defense asserted that Flores was the victim of “conspiracy theories” and that there was “no evidence” his client had murdered Smart.
“Mr. Peuvrelle is trying to bootstrap a murder where there’s no evidence of a murder,” attorney Robert Sanger told the jury during closing arguments.
The jury deciding on the charges against Ruben Flores reached a verdict on Monday, while Paul Flores’ jury reached its verdict on Tuesday.
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