Judge announces new venue for Kristin Smart murder trial. Here’s where
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A San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge ruled to move the Kristin Smart murder trial to Monterey County in a hearing Wednesday morning.
Judge Craig van Rooyen said he reached out to the presiding judge at Monterey County Superior Court about potential dates for preliminary hearings for the trial, but has not heard back yet. The trial date has been set for May 31 in a previous hearing and could change if the court is unavailable at that date.
Both Paul and Ruben Flores attended the hearing in person.
The decision comes after van Rooyen ruled last month that Paul and Ruben Flores could not receive a fair trial in San Luis Obispo County because of the pretrial publicity.
“I don’t think this case is discussed around dinner tables in other counties like it is in this county,” van Rooyen said in the March hearing.
Paul Flores, 45, is alleged to have killed Cal Poly student Kristin Smart after an off-campus party in May 1996.
His 80-year-old father, Ruben Flores, is accused of helping hide the 19-year-old’s body, which still has not been found. The two were arrested in April 2021 — 25 years after Smart’s disappearance.
Defense requests soil sample results
Robert Sanger, one of Paul Flores’ attorneys, told the judge he has not yet received soil sample test results from the Serological Research Institute for “a particular location at Cal Poly.” The lab is the same forensic science lab that assisted the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office with its investigation.
One of its scientists also testified about human blood found in soil samples from Ruben Flores’ Arroyo Grande home during the preliminary hearing.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle said he will send the results as soon as he receives them, and said that the defense also needs to download the results in a timely manner.
Van Rooyen ordered that the results of 36 soil samples from various areas of interests, control soil samples, and soil samples from several “stain areas” be sent to the defense. The order does not specify the exact areas where these samples came from.
The hearing in which the preliminary hearing dates may be scheduled is set for Monday, April 25, at 1:30 p.m.
The Flores trial is the fourth San Luis Obispo County criminal trial in the past five decades to move locations, with the most recent being the 2001 trial of convicted serial killer Rex Krebs. That trial was also moved to Monterey County.
