Woman who says Flores confessed to killing Kristin Smart in tears as defense questions her
The Santa Maria woman who testified Paul Flores was “1,000% serious” when he told her he killed Kristin Smart in 1996 was rigorously cross-examined Monday by defense attorneys who questioned her alleged drug habits and gang affiliations.
On Thursday, Jennifer Hudson testified in Monterey County Superior Court that “there was nothing alive” behind Flores’ eyes when he told her he killed Smart while at a friend’s house in San Luis Obispo during the summer of 1996.
That was one of two times Hudson said she interacted with Flores, who’s accused of murdering Smart and hiding the Cal Poly student’s body with the help of his father, Ruben Flores.
The other one occurred a few weeks later when she drove friends to a skate ramp in Huasna, she said, adding that she vomited after seeing Paul Flores there.
Hudson said she discussed those encounters with only one person — her former roommate, Justin Goodwin — while the two were drunk in 2002.
Flores’ defense attorney, Robert Sanger, continued his cross-examination, alleging Hudson was “on meth” when Flores allegedly told her he killed Smart and had “prospective motorcycle gang members” do surveillance on the Flores family in 2019.
Hudson denied both of these allegations during her testimony.
Meeting Paul Flores was a reality check, witness says
The original tip Goodwin allegedly gave law enforcement in 2002 apparently said Flores told Hudson he killed Smart while the two were doing methamphetamines together, Sanger said.
Hudson didn’t find out Goodwin’s tip made an allegation about drug use until 2019, when she spoke with law enforcement, she testified. She has denied the allegation ever since she found out about it, she said.
Hudson testified she experimented with drugs — mostly cannabis — for a few years.
“I was 15 and I was interested to see what would make a mother” kick their daughter out of the house, she said.
During the summer of 1996, she would sometimes try meth, or “crank,” Hudson said, adding that she was not on anything other than “maybe a little bit of pot” either time she interacted with Flores.
She said she “never did meth again” after meeting Flores because it was a reality check.
Defense questions out of line with pretrial motion
A pretrial motion granted in July banned Hudson from being asked about her alleged motorcycle gang affiliation because, according to unsealed court documents, she did not meet any members of a certain motorcycle gang until she was 32 — 15 years after Flores allegedly admitted he murdered Smart.
This didn’t stop the defense from asking about it.
Sanger and Ruben Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, alleged Hudson had “prospects,” or prospective motorcycle gang members, do surveillance of the Flores family in 2019.
Hudson said she heard Flores had returned to town shortly after she talked to law enforcement and called a friend to “help me out” because she “was afraid him or his family would come after me.”
In a text message from Hudson sent to Goodwin read aloud to the court, Hudson wrote her “guy” told her three “prospects” who checked out the home of Paul Flores’ mother, Susan Flores, as well as Huasna Townsite Road and the location of the Huasna skate ramp, did not see anything.
Hudson said she was simply relaying the information her friend told her.
Mesick alleged Hudson knew “prospects” were prospective motorcycle gang members, but San Luis Obispo Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle objected to the line of questioning and Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe agreed to halt it.
Witness says she remembers Flores confession
Sanger alleged she and Goodwin used to joke about Flores, noting one conversation where Goodwin wrote in a message “Paul Flores should just kill himself” to which Hudson replied, “that would be ideal.”
“Absolutely, I wasn’t joking,” Hudson testified.
She also said she felt responsible for the misery experienced by the Smart family.
“If I had, if I was not a coward, I would have come forward (to law enforcement) then,” she said through tears.
Peuvrelle asked Hudson if she regretted not talking to law enforcement until 2019.
After a long pause, wiping back tears and taking a deep breath, Hudson replied, “Yes.”
She said she had trouble completing her first call with “Your Own Backyard” podcaster Chris Lambert because the call “went like this,” referring to her current emotional state.
She said she vividly remembers Flores calling Smart “a d--k tease” and that he “took care of her and put her under his place in Huasna.”
Hudson was excused from court around noon, and a new witness was expected to take the stand at 1:30 p.m. when court resumes.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 2:21 PM.
