Kristin Smart trial: California jury hears from police about phone wiretaps against murder suspect Paul Flores
Kristin Smart was a college student in May 1996 when she disappeared from California Polytechnic State University's San Luis Obispo campus
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jurors overseeing the California trial for Paul Flores, the man accused of killing missing college student Kristin Smart more than two decades ago, heard police testimony about phone wire taps against the murder suspect, according to reports.
Kristin Smart was a 19-year-old college student at California Polytechnic State University in 1996 when she vanished after an off-campus party, investigators have said. More than 26 years later, Flores – the man who was last seen with Smart – and his father, are standing trial on charges related to her presumed death.
Paul Flores, now 45, has been charged with Smart’s murder. Ruben Flores, his 81-year-old father, was charged with acting as an accessory after the fact.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The trial proceedings are not being televised or live-streamed, pursuant to a judge’s ruling. A handful of journalists — including local news station KSBY, and the person behind the "Your Own Backyard" (YOB) Podcast that is credited with renewing interest in the case — have been reporting from inside the courtroom amid the media limitations.
This undated photo released by the FBI shows Kristin Smart, the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo student who disappeared in 1996. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that Paul and Ruben Flores can be tried in connection with her purported death. ((FBI via AP, File))
Jurors heard testimony on Tuesday from a different volunteer K9 handler who was involved in the police investigation, as well as San Luis Obispo County senior sheriff’s deputy Jason Nadal. They also heard from San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office senior Det. Gregory Smith, according to the report.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smith, who is assigned to the agency’s Major Crimes Unit, testified that he and other investigators "listened in on phone conversations" related to the Smart case, the YOB Podcast reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chris Lambert, the musician and recording engineer behind the ‘Your Own Backyard’ Podcast, poses Thursday, April 15, 2021, in front of Muir Hall dormitory at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. ((AP Photo/Nic Coury))
Specifically, the team received permission to monitor "Paul Flores’ telephone, Susan Flores’ telephone, Ruben Flores’ telephone, and Ermelinda Thomas’ telephone." Susan Flores is Paul’s mother, while Ermelinda is his sister.
The wiretaps began on Jan. 6, 2020, and continued through Feb. 4, 2020, Smith said. Investigators were mandated to update a judge every five days, in order to have their permission renewed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Testimony regarding the wiretaps was often related to the YOB Podcast itself, according to reports.
The jury heard a portion of a call between Paul Flores and his mother on Jan. 26, 2020, in which the pair appeared to be discussing the show.
EXAMINING CALIFORNIA'S KRISTIN SMART TRIAL: THE ANATOMY OF A CASE WITH NO BODY
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The other thing I need you to do is to start listening to the podcast," Susan Flores told her son. "I need you to listen to everything they say, so we can punch holes in it. Wherever we can punch holes. Maybe we can’t. You — you’re the one that can tell me."
Paul did not respond, according to reports. According to Smith, it was the only time Paul Flores did not respond.
In another call, Susan Flores reportedly asked Flores to contact someone who was identified as an attorney.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During cross-examination, Smith acknowledged that he did not ever hear Paul Flores talk about using incorrect information at trial, KSBY reported. Smith also conceded that Susan Flores said in the tapped phone calls that her goal was to ensure Flores was legally protected.
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Kristin Smart went missing on May 25, 1996 while attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and has not been heard from since. (Photo by Axel Koester/Sygma via Getty Images)
The detective said his team used a "stimulation strategy" that involved providing the podcast creator with certain information, as a way to share the information it wanted the Flores family to receive, according to reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smart was a student at Cal Poly’s San Luis Obispo campus in 1996 when she was allegedly heavily intoxicated, with Paul Flores, after an off-campus party on Crandall Way. She was walked back from the party by three people — two people, a man and woman, and Flores. The others slowly peeled off after Flores allegedly insisted multiple times that he could get Smart home safely.
She was never seen again.
The state has said Flores killed Smart in his dorm room while he tried to rape her when they were both freshmen. A massive search ensued.
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Dual juries were selected from a pool of more than 1,500 Monterey County residents to oversee each case separately but simultaneously. The trial is expected to last months.