As days pass, reporters huddle in a hallway waiting for verdicts in Kristin Smart trial
While two juries decide the fate of Paul and Ruben Flores, about a dozen journalists covering the Kristin Smart murder trial spend the time camped out in the hallway outside the courtroom, waiting for the verdicts.
They’ve been assembled there two days this week and half of last week, anticipating the conclusion of the 3-month-long trial that’s aimed to unravel a 26-year mystery.
Some are from national networks like NBC and ABC, but most are local reporters from the Central Coast. Some sit on the four semi-cushioned blue chairs available across from the courtroom door while others take the hard wood bench just outside of it.
The rest are on the tile floor, seated cross-legged with their computers on their laps.
In between tidbits of news, some have spent the time working on follow-up stories on the case to give readers more context to understanding the trial, while others have to work on unrelated stories remotely, like coverage of the upcoming 2022 election.
The hours are marked by stretches of monotony interrupted by sudden moments of anticipation.
Ripples of energy go through the hallway each time a bailiff, lawyer or juror connected with the case walks by or enters the courtroom. There’s no telling as to when a verdict will come, or when an on-the-record court proceeding will be.
So they are ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice when any kind of newsworthy development occurs — like on Thursday when the juror who was excused for speaking to their priest about the case.
In the meantime, they wait.
“The thing that strikes me most is like the anticipation of it all,” Dave Alley, a longtime reporter with News Channel 3-12, told The Tribune on Friday. “Any given second, that door could swing open and the bailiff can tell us there’s a verdict and it’s go time.”
Every time the courtroom door opens, Alley said for a split second, he has a loss of breath.
“Every hour that goes by, any minute that goes by, (the verdict) gets closer. We just don’t know when it is,” he said. “So the tension starts to build.”
‘Hardest thing I’ve ever done’
Mustang News, Cal Poly’s student paper, has covered the trial each day, with reporter Nico Viñuela working 14-hour days reporting, writing, producing audio and posting social media updates on the case.
“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I feel different now as a human being than I did when I first started covering it,” Viñuela said. “It’s had an impact on me in a lot of ways.”
Viñuela was chosen to cover the case for the paper because he is from the Salinas area, Mustang News’ executive editor Catherine Allen said, but she had no doubt Viñuela was the best choice for the job.
“I knew as a person Nico is so compassionate and careful with the work he’s doing,” said Allen, who worked at The Tribune as reporting intern earlier this year.
Allen said interest in the case is still high on campus 26 years later, and she emphasized that it was important for the paper to see it through to the conclusion.
“A lot of students still feel unsafe around campus, especially women,”Allen said. “A lot of people who live in the red brick dorms that Paul Flores and Kristin Smart lived in have kind of felt some sort of connection to this case to an extent.”
She added Smart was a key reason behind why Safer, a Cal Poly program that provides education and resources on sexual assault, was created. While it is a great resource, she said many students still feel more support is needed to feel safe on campus.
“I think a lot of people share the concerns that a worst-case scenario like (Smart’s disappearance) could happen again,” Viñuela said. “I think people have their eyes on this trial because they see themselves in Kristin.”
Alley, who joined News Channel 3-12 in 1997 and is a SLO County native, said one of the biggest challenges in covering the case has been balancing the distance to Salinas with covering news stories back home.
But this case continues to be a priority for the station, and for the other local news organizations as well, such as The Tribune and KSBY, because they are the ones who’ve been covering it since day one, and who will stick around even after the news of the verdict breaks.
“Kristin Smart has been someone that the public has truly cared about for 26 years now. And I just I want to do the job to the best of my ability,” Alley said. “I look forward to seeing what happens, whenever that might be.”
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This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 4:13 PM.
