Kristin Smart killer Paul Flores transferred to state prison. What happens next?
The man convicted of killing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart was transferred to state prison Thursday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed.
Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison on March 10 for Smart’s 1996 murder.
In October, a Monterey County jury found the San Pedro man guilty of killing 19-year-old Smart during the commission of a rape or sexual assault following an off-campus party.
On Thursday, Flores, 46, was transferred from San Luis Obispo County Jail to North Kern State Prison in Delano.
The prison will be Flores’ reception center, according to the state correctional department.
At the reception center, Flores will be processed and receive a classification score that weighs his length of sentence, stability, education, employment and behavior. That score will determine the type of facility to which he will be ultimately be sent.
The score can change over time depending on behavior and other factors, which could cause Flores to be transferred to a different prison.
According to the correctional department’s website, North Kern State Prison has medium custody and minimum support facilities with a 10-bed Level 1 firehouse. Its reception center processes incoming inmates usually within 90 days.
“After compiling the inmate’s criminal records, life histories, medical and psychological histories, and social relationships, (prison) staff determines the inmate’s classification score and institutional placement,” the website said.
Flores will be eligible for parole in about 15 years with the time he’s already served and if he has good behavior.
At that time, a parole board would hold a hearing to decide whether Flores should be granted parole.
If Flores isn’t granted parole, the board will review his case at intervals it determines: three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe told Flores at his March 10 sentencing that he is a “cancer to society,” and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.
