SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The man convicted of murdering California Polytechnic State University student Kristin Smart will not get a second trial, a Monterey County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.
A Monterey County jury found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder Oct. 18 while a separate jury acquitted his father, Ruben Flores, of helping his son conceal the crime.
Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe denied the motion by Paul Flores’ defense attorney seeking a new trial for his client.
Robert Sanger had argued that Chris Peuvrelle, who prosecuted the case as a deputy district attorney for the San Luis Obispo County district attorney’s office, made a prosecutorial error during his closing argument and alleged that Peuvrelle misstated the standard for reasonable doubt.
O’Keefe decided that Peuvrelle didn’t misstate the reasonable doubt standard.
She noted that attorneys are allowed to make “fair comment” on the evidence, including “reasonable inferences” during closing statements.
O’Keefe said that Peuvrelle made appropriate statements during his closing argument, and that the jury had already received instructions about the reasonable doubt standard.
She also explained that the witnesses and evidence presented by the prosecution were credible.
Also on Friday, O’Keefe denied a separate motion by Sanger asking the judge to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict.
“The court finds that substantial evidence supports the conviction in this case,” O’Keefe said. “Acquittal is denied.”
The courtroom gallery was filled with Smart’s family and friends.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, San Luis Obispo County Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and several members of Paul Flores’ jury were also in attendance.
Paul Flores’ parents, Ruben and Susan Flores, were in the gallery with Ruben Flores’ lawyer, Harold Mesick.
Court was to resume Friday afternoon for sentencing.
For first-degree murder, Flores faces a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison or life without parole.
Under the current penal code, the death penalty is also a sentencing option. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on capital punishment sentences in 2019.
Smart, a 19-year-old freshman, disappeared after an off-campus party during Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
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