MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. – Paul Flores, the man convicted of killing Cal Poly freshmen Kristin Smart back in 1996, has once again filed a appeal to reverse his conviction.
The now 48-year-old was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Kristen Smart in October 2022. A Monterey County jury sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison, saying he "with malice aforethought murder[ed] Kristin Smart" while "engaged in the commission of, or attempting to commit, the crime of rape."
Flores is appealing his conviction for a second time, arguing his sentence should be reversed or reduced to second-degree murder. Court documents shown Monday claim Flores did not receive a fair and proper trial.
In the appeal, Flores argues Juror 273 should not have been allowed to testify, two additional alleged rape victims of Flores should not have been allowed to testify, and former San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle committed misconduct during his closing arguments.
Flores' defense team used the same arguments in his initial appeal two years after his conviction, back in 2024. His team attempted have Juror 273 removed four separate times during the trial for a “dramatic emotional outburst.” The appeal claims Juror 273 admitted to speaking about the case to the bailiff and acquaintances, and revealed her "her jury service in this high-profile case."
Juror 273 told the SLO Tribune she remained neutral throughout the trial, even after her emotional outburst.
The document criticizes the choice to allow two alledged victims to testify. It claims by allowing the two female witnesses to take the stand, their testimonies contributed to "enabling the prosecutor to argue that appellant had done the same to Smart, though no independent evidence supported this theory." Flores and his team continue to argue there is no evidence he sexually assaulted Kristin Smart, and Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe abused her authority by letting the two women testify.
"Even under the relatively low probable cause standard used at a preliminary hearing, the non-character evidence failed to establish that appellant killed Smart in the commission of an actual or attempted rape of any type."
The testimony of Trevor Boelter was also criticized after saying in court Smart appeared 'roofied' the night of her disappearance. Flores' team claims this lacked adequate foundation and was merely hearsay he read about in a newspaper article.
"There was no evidence he saw his drink being spiked, heard about it after the fact, or saw otherpeople spiking drinks with roofies that same night. Quite conversely, Boelter denied that he “saw drugs around” on the night in question."
Flores is currently serving his sentence at Corcoran State Prison where he was moved to after being attacked twice at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.
An appeal date for oral arguments has not been set as of Wednesday morning.
Paul Flores Files Second Appeal for Murder Conviction in Kristin Smart Case News Channel 3-12.
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