Paul Flores sentencing in Kristin Smart trial to proceed as scheduled, attorneys confirm
Paul Flores’ sentencing for the 1996 murder of Kristin Smart is expected to take place on schedule, attorneys confirmed during a Thursday court hearing.
Smart went missing in May 1996 after an off-campus party in San Luis Obispo. Flores had long been a person of interest in the case, and was arrested alongside his father, Ruben Flores, in April 2021 in connection with her murder.
After a three-month-long trial, a Monterey County jury convicted Paul Flores of first-degree murder on Oct. 18, while a separate jury acquitted his father of helping his son conceal the crime.
The sentencing was delayed from Dec. 9 to March 10 after Robert Sanger, Flores’ attorney, said he had not had time to properly file a motion for a new trial because there was a delay in ordering official court transcripts.
The motion for a new trial marks Sanger’s 10th attempt to restart legal proceedings in the case after unsuccessfully motioning for a mistrial nine times before the verdict. The motion will include new information Sanger’s team received about one of Peuvrelle’s witnesses after the verdict was read, Sanger said in December.
Sanger did not elaborate on which witness was involved or the information they had.
The motion will be heard March 10, and if it is denied, Flores will be sentenced immediately after. He faces 25 years to life in state prison or life without parole.
Sanger was not present at Thursday’s virtual hearing because he is litigating a trial in Los Angeles, Frank Ochoa, former Santa Barbara County judge and current attorney who attended the hearing on Sanger’s behalf, told the judge.
Despite “the district attorney not ordering transcripts like they said they would,” a partner in Sanger’s firm being appointed to judge, and Sanger’s current trial, the motion is expected to be filed on time, Ochoa said.
It is unclear what the deadline to file the motion is at this time, but it does need to be filed at least 10 days before the hearing, according to California law.
Former San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle put on the record that the new sentencing date was chosen before Sanger’s trial in Los Angeles began, and that there should be no reason for any more delays.
“We expect to proceed March 10,” Judge Jennifer O’Keefe said.
The judge said she reviewed Flores’ probation sentencing report — which was more than 100 pages long — and asked both parties to let her know about any corrections they wanted to make to it as soon as possible.
Probation reports are only public for 60 days after sentencing takes place under California law.
