That the home was important because it's where, he said the DA's office will prove, Smart was buried for a period of time after her disappearance. The details, San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle, laid out during opening statements for jurors. Jurors saw photos of the home's blueprints, early construction photos, and a photo of the front of the home introduced during the first week of testimony - when Smart's father noted an altercation that took place in the home's front yard. Ruben's Arroyo Grande home was at the center of evidence introduced in court on Monday with a range of witnesses from the home's original contractor to a former renter of Ruben's who lived in a room inside the home. One of the photos of Ruben Flores' Arroyo Grande home. Paul is charged in her death during an attempted rape and Ruben is charged with helping his son hide Smart's body in his backyard, according to prosecutors. Smart's former classmate, Paul Flores, and his father, Ruben, are on trial in connection to her disappearance. The Los Angeles Times and Record archives contributed to this report.SALINAS - The Kristin Smart murder trial continued in Salinas Monday, at the start of the sixth week of testimony, 26 years after the Stockton teenager disappeared during her freshman year at California Polytechnic University. Paul and Ruben Flores have pleaded not guilty and have consistently denied any role in Smart’s disappearance or any knowledge of her whereabouts. His conduct in those recent assaults, as described by his alleged victims, dovetails with his behavior the night in 1996 that Smart was last seen alive, the prosecutor wrote.įlores “has a specific fetish for forcing himself upon women especially when they are drugged or inebriated,” Peuvrelle said, “which is exactly the state of Kristin Smart in the early morning of March 25, 1996.” Peuvrelle filed the motion in an attempt to charge Paul Flores with two rapes allegedly committed in San Pedro in 20. Peuvrelle earlier this month laid out the most expansive account yet of the disappearance and presumed death of Kristin Smart in 1996. In a 43-page document, Deputy District Attorney Christopher G. San Luis Obispo prosecutors anticipate that dozens of women will testify about the predatory - and at times violent - sexual behavior of Paul Flores, a San Pedro man charged with the murder of a 19-year-old college student who vanished 25 years ago and has never been found, according to court papers made public Thursday. The preliminary trial will be the first time that evidence of the disappearance of Smart will be presented in court. Van Rooyen also decided to delay the start of the preliminary trial from July 20 to Aug. Judge Craig van Rooyen said that the evidence of rape is not sufficient enough, thus denying the motion. In the weeks since the arrests, damning reports have emerged about prosecutors’ case against Paul Flores, including an alleged history of predatory and at times violent behavior.Įarlier this month, a judge declined to add two rape charges to the case against him, citing lack of evidence. “Thank you for using your voice to help a family who suffered for so long without answers.” “Thank you for keeping an eye on your own backyard,” he wrote. A fellow student named Paul Flores offered to help her back to her dorm room. Smart was 19 at the time of her disappearance over Memorial Day weekend in 1996.Īfter attending a party at a fraternity house, she was found passed out on a nearby lawn at about 2 a.m., witnesses said. A representative said the podcaster was not giving interviews at this time. Lambert could not be reached for comment. When asked about Lambert’s post, however, he said, “Chris has a very good grasp on what’s going on.” “It’s very difficult in a small community like this, in relation to a case as significant as the Kristin Smart case, to do anything without people inferring that it’s in relation to that case,” said Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth. A spokesman for the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office - the lead agency on the case - said a protective order prohibited him from discussing details of the investigation, but confirmed that officials would “continue to follow up on all leads.”
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