Defense attorneys filed a motion in Monterey County Superior Court on Monday to dismiss the case against Paul and Ruben Flores, who are accused of killing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart and hiding her body.
The grounds? “Outrageous government conduct,” attorney Robert Sanger said.
But Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe ruled that the murder trial will proceed as planned, saying that there was no government misconduct.
Paul Flores, 45, is accused of murdering 19-year-old Smart after an off-campus party in May 1996, while his father, 81-year-old Ruben Flores, is accused of helping hide the Cal Poly student’s body. The two men were arrested in April 2021.
The trial against the Floreses was moved to Salinas after San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen ruled that they would likely not receive a fair trial in San Luis Obispo County because of pretrial publicity.
On Monday morning, Paul and Rubens Flores made their first public appearance in Monterey County Superior Court.
The defendants were in court in Salinas for a hearing on various motions filed by both the prosecution and defense.
Those included the motion to dismiss the case, which the court heard at 1:30 p.m. Monday. The motion was sealed, as was the prosecution’s opposition to the dismissal.
The defense team previously filed a motion to dismiss the case, which van Rooyen denied. In that motion, attorneys for the Flores men argued there was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the two are guilty in connection to Smart’s death.
On Monday, Sanger called San Luis Obispo County Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth to the stand in regards to the dismissal because Dobroth submitted a declaration in the prosecution’s opposition.
Defense attorneys file motion to dismiss murder case
According to court testimony, here’s what inspired the motion to dismiss:
A witness in the Smart case reported to police on May 27 that Susan Flores, Ruben Flores’ ex-wife, was taking photos of the 8-year-old daughter of the witness.
Prosecutors said the photos were taken by Susan Flores peering into the witness’ backyard, while the defense said that, if photos were taken at all, it was when Flores passed by the house in her car while the daughter was in the garage.
The Arroyo Grande Police Department responded to the witness and interviewed both the witness and their daughter.
Police found probable cause for a search warrant, and San Luis Obispo County Judge Jacqueline Duffy asked for the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office to review the warrant before she approved it, Dobroth said.
Dobroth said he reviewed the warrant and gave feedback. The warrant ended up narrowing the scope of the search, which was originally more broad, and asked for cell phone data from May 20-27.
Here’s where it gets a bit complex.
On May 24, there was allegedly a brief conversation between prosecution and defense about potentially settling the case. This surprised both sides and was shut down quickly, Sanger said.
Sanger alleged that the photo report from the witness and the search warrant that followed was intentionally to look for text messages between Susan Flores and her family in response to the settlement conversation, which the defense said was meant to draw out Flores to say something incriminating about her son.
Dobroth said it was in no way a “fishing expedition” and the search was limited to photos and data that had to do with the complaint on May 27.
He also said the data, which had nothing to do with the specific photo complaint, was sealed, adding that he only asked to unseal it “out of an abundance of caution” for the defense to see the data.
O’Keefe ruled that because the complaint originated from a witness first — not the district attorney — there was no government misconduct. She added there is an extremely high bar to meet government misconduct, even more so when it is alleged to be outrageous.
O’Keefe also said she cannot rule as to whether phone data should remain sealed because it is unclear and unlikely that it is her jurisdiction since this is separate from the Kristin Smart murder case and occurred in San Luis Obispo County.
Dobroth said the phone is still being investigated.
O’Keefe clarified that, while no photo was found physically on the phone, the phone is still being investigated as to whether any photos were deleted and Susan Flores cannot have it back quite yet.
The judge is also allowing discovery in this motion to be sent to Susan Flores’ lawyer.
What’s next?
O’Keefe also ruled in favor of the prosecution’s motion to deny several people as third-party culpability witnesses.
A third-party culpability witness is someone who can cast reasonable doubt on a defendant’s guilt because there is direct evidence that the witness may be guilty of the crime.
Two of the people who were also present at the party where Smart was last seen are allowed to testify as witnesses, but not as additional suspects. O’Keefe said she would be willing to revisit her rulings on each person upon more evidence being shown.
There will continue to be pretrial hearings throughout the week, with the next one set for Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.
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