The father of Kristin Smart’s convicted killer said there was ‘no evidence’ tying his son to her murder, suggesting the court ‘works on feelings instead of facts
The father of Kristin Smart’s convicted killer said there was ‘no evidence’ tying his son to her murder, betgaranti suggesting the court ‘works on feelings instead of facts.’
Ruben Flores, betgaranti 81, was acquitted of being an accessory to the first-degree 1996 murder his 45-year-old son, Paul Flores, betgaranti was convicted of on Tuesday.
‘All that stuff they say is evidence, you look through it, and there is nobody against me or Paul,’ Ruben said in his first public appearance since his arrest.’Too much made up stuff, that’s all I can say.
‘It’s too bad that sometimes the system works on feelings instead of facts, but I am relieved about myself of course.’
His attorney, Harold Mesick, defended the decision by the court by saying Ruben is ‘not just not guilty, he is absolutely innocent, and today’s verdict proved that.
‘He never should have been charged, and I’m very pleased with the outcome.Love our system of justice.’
Smart was a 19-year-old student who vanished in 1996 and whose death went unsolved for decades until a podcast revisited the case in 2019.
Paul was convicted of murdering her while trying to rape her after the pair attended a party at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
They were both 19 at the time.He now faces a minimum of 25 years in prison but could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Kristin was a Cal Poly student who vanished after a night of partying in the college town in 1996.Paul Flores, right, betgaranti seen on Tuesday as the verdict was read, was found guilty of her murder
Paul Flores was charged with murder, while his 81-year-old father Ruben (pictured) was charged with being an accessory after the fact.Ruben was found not guilty
Stan Smart, the father of Kristin, is pictured on Tuesday afterno
Stan Smart on Tuesday afternoon paid tribute to the sheriffs, detectives and prosecutors who secured Flores’s conviction.
He was charged with murder, while his father was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Prosecutors had argued Paul killed Kristin then hid her body in his father’s yard.They suggested that the pair moved the body years later.
The jury rejected that theory, acquitting Ruben on Tuesday. Paul will be sentenced on December 9.
As Paul’s conviction was read aloud in court, Kristin’s father smiled and placed an arm around her mother, who quietly wept, reported.
‘After 26 years, with today’s split verdicts, we learned that our quest for justice for Kristin will continue,’ Stan Smart told a press conference – during which a reporter fainted.
‘This has been an agonizingly long journey, with more downs than ups, but we are grateful and appreciate the diligence and energy of the two juries to thoroughly review the facts and reach their decision.’
He said the family’s ‘faith in the justice system has been renewed,’ and thanked the jury and podcast maker Chris Lambert.
Smart added: ‘To our Kristin: Almost three decades ago, our lives were irreparably changed on the night you disappeared.
‘Know that your spirit lives on in each and every one of us, every day.Not a single day goes by where you aren’t missed, remembered, loved and celebrated.’
Smart’s family and friends plan to hold a celebration of her life at her memorial at Dinosaur Caves in Shell Beach at 6pm on Tuesday, with a music jam session celebrating the guilty verdict.
Paul Flores is seen standing to receive the verdict in Monterey County Superior Court, California, on Tuesday
Attorney Harold Mesick reacts on Tuesday after the jury acquitted Ruben Flores of helping his son, Paul Flores, cover up the murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart
Judge Jennifer O’Keefe on Tuesday reads out the verdict to the court
Paul Flores is seen being led out of court after the verdict was handed down
NOT GUILTY: Ruben Flores was acquitted of being an accessory to his son’s crime.The 81-year-old had been facing three years in prison
Judge Jennifer O’Keefe thanked the jury for their service, after reading out the verdict. ‘I wish to express to you appreciation and that of the parties for your service in this case,’ she said.
‘It is a great personal sacrifice to serve as a juror.You have been very attentive and conscientious throughout this case.’
Mesick said the case has been the one he is ‘most invested in on a personal level.’
Paul Flores is shown in an unrelated arrest photo from 1996, when he was 19.He was never charged over Kristin’s death at the time
He condemned what he said was a rush to judgement.
‘There is just so much animosity towards this man and his family. There’s so much hate, and I really have never understood it.I understand that people are upset that Kristin is missing, I understand they want a person to be responsible for that,’ Mesick said.
‘But just the ‘let’s lynch ’em, let’s burn ’em, let’s hang ’em, let’s kill ’em,’ — I don’t know where that came from in this country.
‘And I wish the community who still feels that way would disabuse themselves of those feelings.’ Mesick said Ruben Flores now has to go home ‘and rebuild the deck that was destroyed.’
Mesick said he feels there is ‘reasonable inference’ Smart is still alive and that he thought Paul Flores’ attorney will likely file for a new trial since ‘there are plenty of grounds.’
‘They did not prove her death,’ he said.
The case was cold for decades until a podcast drummed up fresh public interest in the case.
Titled ‘Your Own Backyard’, the host was a local man who said he felt compelled to investigate the case. The podcast first launched in 2019.
By 2020, it had amassed thousands of listeners and, police suspect, spooked the Flores family.
Neighbors testified at the trial that Ruben Flores did yard work that year, after the podcast cast suspicion on his family.
Police searched the family home and yard.They did not find a body, but expert witnesses testified in court that the soil beneath the deck had been disturbed.
They also testified that soil samples indicated it was possible that a body wrapped in tarp had been stored there at some stage. Kristin’s remains have never been found. She was declared dead in 2002.
The jury in Ruben’s case reached a decision on Monday but were told they could not announce the decision until Paul’s case was closed.
His attorneys filed a ‘Hail Mary’ motion asking for a mistrial to be declared, claiming it was improper for a member of the victim’s family to be seen by the jury hugging someone from the prosecution.
The judge denied the request.
The Flores’ defense teams have argued throughout the trial that they are the scapegoats of a police department and prosecution that are more eager to satisfy the public appetite for a conviction than they are to find the true killer.
Ruben (left) and Paul (right) were arrested in April 2021.The jury finally reached a verdict today after two weeks of deliberations
Kristin was a Cal Poly student who was last seen alive in May 1996.She vanished on her way back to her dorm after a night of drinking at a local party
Kristin was last seen alive at 2am on May 26.She was walking home from a party with Paul Flores, heading towards the area where their dorms were. He told police she walked back to her room, but cadaver dogs detected the scent of a corpse from his room when they searched it after Kristin’s disappearance
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-0bb0f090-4f1b-11ed-9992-d3aa693aebb2" website Flores 'relieved,' he was cleared but slams son's guilty verdict