Defense attorneys cast doubt on cadaver dog’s alert to Paul Flores dorm room
A fourth cadaver dog alerted to the scent of human remains in Paul Flores’ dorm room during a search of Cal Poly’s campus in 1996, a witness testified during the Kristin Smart murder trial Thursday.
Paul Flores is currently on trial in Salinas for Smart’s murder with his father, Ruben Flores, who is accused of helping his son hide her body.
Gail Laroque and her dog, a boxer named Torrey, were called to search Cal Poly’s campus about a week after three separate dogs had searched and alerted to Flores’ room in June 1996, Laroque testified Thursday.
Torrey’s qualifications were similar to another dog’s who alerted to Paul Flores’ room about a week earlier. Torrey had advanced search certifications in human remains detection, and had also had training in detecting remains in water and urban search and rescue, Laroque said.
The dog has been used by multiple agencies, including law enforcement agencies across California and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, she added.
Dog alert in Flores dorm certain, handler testifies
Torrey was in the early stages of an ACL injury, Laroque said, so she was brought to Cal Poly as a back-up or confirmation dog. Laroque testified she was unaware other dogs had searched the dorm at the time of her and Torrey’s search.
She said she and Torrey entered through the front main entrance — different from the other dogs, who entered from the side hallway entrance.
Torrey was showing signs she was hot, like panting, so Laroque said she brought Torrey inside the dorm and cooled her down in the shower to ensure Torrey was at her best to execute the search.
After that, Laroque and Torrey went back to the entrance to get ready to search, Laroque said. She put a specific vest and collar attachment — a bringsel — on Torrey’s collar. Torrey only wore those items when she was on a human remains search, Laroque said.
When Torrey was ready, Laroque said she gave her the command to look for human remains and Torrey ran down the hallway of Santa Lucia dorm while Laroque stayed at the entrance. Torrey then turned around in the hallway and alerted to room 128 — Paul Flores’ room.
Torrey indicated she wanted to go inside the room, and once officers opened the door, Torrey quickly began to search. She first went to the right side of the room, sniffing the bed then sniffing the air and alerted, Laroque said. Laroque said she told her dog to keep searching because she didn’t think Torrey had yet found the strongest source of scent.
Torrey eventually alerted to a garbage can on the left side of the room and seemed frustrated because she couldn’t pinpoint where the strongest scent was on the left side bed frame, Laroque said. Laroque testified she interpreted her dog’s alert — and therefore the scent of human remains — to be stronger on the left side of the room.
The left side of the dorm room belonged to Flores.
In the hallway, detectives placed the trashcan Torrey alerted to in a lineup with two other identical trashcans. The dog again alerted to the trash can from Flores’ room.
Defense casts doubts on dog’s alerts and handler’s capabilities
During cross examination, Flores defense attorney Robert Sanger focused on the fact that there is no way to know for sure what exact chemical compounds make up scent and what exact chemical compounds dogs alert to.
“I don’t know the chemical compounds of chocolate cake but I know it when I see it,” Laroque quipped to Sanger.
“Do you think this is funny? This is a murder trial,” Sanger replied.
Search dog certifications are also done by independent, mostly nonprofit groups, not government agencies, Sanger noted.
Torrey was trained to find both human remains and live people, something that was a requirement at that time but is no longer considered best practice according to testimony from Adela Morris, another dog handler who helped in the search, Sanger said.
Laroque said she was confident in her dog’s abilities to accurately alert to human remains despite being cross-trained. She does not recall her dog ever alerting on something that wasn’t there, she testified.
“So you believe Torrey is infallible?” Harold Mesick, Ruben Flores’ attorney, asked.
“Not infallible, just honest,” Laroque replied.
Both defense attorneys also asked about the red tape on Paul Flores’ dorm room door. Laroque said she noticed the tape on the door only after her search was complete, and does not recall seeing tape on other doors in the building.
Ex-girlfriend takes stand; testimony to continue Friday
Paul Flores’ ex-girlfriend, Angie Carrizel, began her testimony at the end of the court day. She said her and Flores dated for about two years sometime between 2004 and 2007.
She said when she visited Ruben Flores’ Arroyo Grande home, she was taken on a brief tour around the house. When they got to the backyard, she saw avocado trees and she began to walk toward them since avocados were her favorite.
Either Paul or Ruben Flores quickly directed her away from the trees and around the corner, she said, and she added Ruben Flores seemed upset.
“The mood changed, the body language changed,” she said.
Carrizel was expected to finish her testimony Friday morning.
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 6:22 PM.
