What options do the juries have in Kristin Smart murder trial?
The fate of Paul and Ruben Flores in the Kristin Smart murder trial is now in the hands of their respective juries, meaning the 26-year-old case could come to a close in a matter of hours or days.
For more than three months, Paul Flores has been on trial for the 1996 murder of Smart along with his father, Ruben Flores, who is accused of helping his son conceal the crime.
Closing arguments for the two men concluded Wednesday, and the juries have been sent into separate deliberation rooms at the Monterey County Courthouse in Salinas with directions to reach a unanimous, unbiased verdict.
The juries have been given specific instructions on how to apply the law to the evidence they’ve been presented at trial.
They are deliberating this week, so verdicts could come as early as Friday. Court will be dark on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so if they don’t reach verdicts, deliberations would resume on Thursday.
Here’s a look at what they’re considering and what happens next.
What options do Paul Flores’ jury have?
Paul Flores is charged with murdering Smart in the commission of a rape or attempted rape.
It’s important to note that the rape piece of the charge is not a separate accusation — it’s part of the evidence code, rather than the penal code.
That is why the two women who said Paul Flores raped them were allowed to take the stand. According to the evidence code, if the defendant is charged with a sexual offense, evidence of other sexual offenses are admissible in court.
Accusations of other sexual offenses do not need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be considered by jurors in their deliberations. They just need to be proven more likely to happen than not.
The jurors have three ways to find Paul Flores guilty of murder.
The first two options lead to murder in the first degree, a crime punishable by a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison, life in prison without parole or the death penalty — though it should be noted Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on capital punishment sentences and halted awaiting death sentences in 2019.
If jurors unanimously find that Paul Flores “hunted” Smart, as San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle argues, and the murder was planned or premeditated, then Flores will be convicted of first-degree murder.
Flores can also be convicted of first-degree murder if jurors find he is guilty of felony murder, meaning Smart’s death was the result of Flores committing a separate felony — in this case rape or attempted rape. Jurors can reach this verdict even if they believe Smart’s death was unintentional or negligent during the course of a rape or attempted rape.
The third option is second-degree murder, which is punishable by up to 15 years to life in state prison. This would occur if jurors find Paul Flores did murder Smart, but it was unplanned and not in the commission of a rape.
Jurors do not need to unanimously agree on how the murder took place, only the degree of murder.
There’s also a fourth possible outcome.
If the jury tells the judge it is deadlocked and can’t reach a unanimous verdict, the judge will likely send jurors back to continue trying to reach agreement. If they are unable to do so, the case would be declared a mistrial.
The District Attorney’s Office would then have to decide whether it wants to retry the case.
What about Ruben Flores’ jury?
Ruben Flores is charged with accessory after the fact, meaning he did not help commit the crime, only conceal it.
The charge, known as Penal Code 32, applies to anyone who helped someone hide or conceal any felony after the crime was committed.
Under the penal code, concealing a crime can include hiding evidence, lying to law enforcement or hiding evidence.
Sentencing guidelines for the charge are the same no matter the felony the person charged is alleged to have helped conceal, carrying a maximum three-year sentence in county jail or state prison.
That means someone who is charged with accessory after the fact for felony shoplifting could theoretically receive the same sentence as someone charged with accessory after the fact for murder or rape.
Before jurors can find Ruben Flores guilty of the crime he’s charged with, they first have to decide if there was a crime to cover up.
This is why his jury heard almost all the same evidence as Paul Flores’ jury — they need to find Paul Flores guilty before they can consider finding Ruben Flores guilty.
Ruben Flores’ jury does not need to agree on the degree of murder that took place, only that one did.
If they do find that a murder occurred, they then need to evaluate the evidence as to whether or not Ruben Flores knowingly helped cover it up.
How the verdicts will work
The two juries are deliberating separately, so it’s possible for one to find a guilty verdict and the other to find a not-guilty verdict.
Paul Flores’ jury could decide it doesn’t have enough evidence to find him guilty of murder, while Ruben Flores’ jury could decide there is sufficient proof.
So it’s conceivable Paul Flores could be exonerated and set free while his father goes to jail and vice versa.
If jurors reach a not-guilty verdict for either Flores man, the defendant cannot be retried or charged with the same offense, even if new compelling evidence develops in the future, such as the discovery of a body. This is a right protected under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution known as double jeopardy.
But if either man is found guilty, they will be taken into custody and sentenced within 20 days. They can file to appeal the verdict to the California Court of Appeal.
The verdicts won’t be revealed until both juries have completed their work. They will then be read separately but back-to-back so that news of one verdict isn’t inadvertently leaked to a juror deciding on the other.
The public and media will be given a one-hour notice before both verdicts are read.
Jurors are released from their oaths as soon as the verdicts are read.
At that point, they will be able to view media about the case, talk about it with friends and family and make public statements.
This story was originally published October 6, 2022 at 1:46 PM.
