Thread by @YOBPodcast

Some familiar faces in line this morning. Closing arguments for Paul Flores’ jury starting soon.

For 50 minutes, Judge O’Keefe instructed Paul’s jurors on the laws that apply to the charges in this case.

The entire left side of the room is filled with Smart family members and supporters, along with members of the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department.

A handful of witnesses who testified are also present, on the left side of the room.

On the right side of the courtroom, Ruben and Susan Flores are seated with their attorneys.

“Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that leads you with an abiding conviction to believe that the charges are true. The Prosecution does not need to prove the charges beyond ALL doubt.”

Judge O’Keefe instructs the jurors on how to evaluate the reliability of witness testimony.

“The defendant is being prosecuted for murder under multiple theories. You do not all need to agree on the same theory — only that the defendant committed a murder.”

“To find the defendant guilty of a felony murder, you must find that the defendant committed or attempted to commit a rape, and that the defendant caused the death of a person during or as a result of the act.”

“You must believe that the defendant intended to commit a rape, and the defendant took a direct step towards committing a rape, even if the attempt failed or was abandoned after taking the direct step towards a rape.”

“A few uncharged crimes were also presented in this trial (testimony of Sarah Doe and Rhonda Doe). These may considered as evidence in this case, even though the defendant was not charged with those crimes.”

10:00am

Judge O’Keefe: “Are the People prepared to give a closing argument at this time?”

Deputy DA Christopher Peuvrelle: “Yes, Your Honor.”

It would be impractical to try to transcribe two hours of closing arguments, and you’ve heard all of the testimony over the past 2 1/2 months — so I’ll just be tweeting some highlights as each side walks through their case.

“It has now been 1,370 Sundays since Stan and Denise Smart didn’t receive a call from their daughter. They have been searching for her through 1,370 Sunday. But now YOU know where she was all along. (points to Ruben and Susan Flores in audience) She was under THEIR deck.”

“The SLO community moved heaven and earth to search for Kristin Smart. The Flores family moved the dirt under their deck. Twice. They treated Kristin’s burial with less reverence than the family dog.”

“The truth is, Kristin Smart is dead. She was plucked off the face of the Earth by Paul Flores.”

“There are no witnesses to what occurred in Paul Flores’ dorm room. Just like there are no witnesses to what Paul Flores did to Sarah Doe. To Rhonda Doe. They speak for Kristin.”

“You have everything you need in evidence to render a truthful verdict.”

“Kristin Smart is dead. She would never leave her family. She made plans with Margarita to study the next day.”

“Hundreds of volunteers searched for Kristin Smart — but these defendants did not lift a finger. Because they knew where she was.”

(Pool photo: Laura Dickinson / @SLOTribune)

“Steve **** said he saw Paul Flores in Kristin’s dorm room at least one time, and she looked uncomfortable. Kristin was too nice to tell him off. What everyone else saw as a nice person, Paul Flores saw as a “bitch dick tease”.

The jurors look at Paul.

“If you notice, you never heard that Paul Flores told anyone ‘I did not kill her’. Not in this entire case.”

Several jurors nod.

“Four trained cadaver dogs alerted to the scent of death on his mattress. Now what would he be doing to Kristin Smart on his mattress? The same thing he did to Sarah Doe, and to Rhonda Doe.”

“Tim and Cheryl told you that Kristin could not walk on her own… There was zero chance she could walk uphill. But Paul claims he left her two football fields away from her dorm room, to walk uphill on her own. A claim so clearly false. So clearly a lie. So clearly impossible.”

“Jeromy puts him in Arroyo Grande on Sunday — when he saw that bruise under his eye. What did Paul Flores tell him? He just woke up with it. There is no reason to lie to your best friend.”

“Paul admits the story he told investigators about his black eye was a lie. A ‘little white lie’. A ‘fib’. If you’re willing to lie about that during a homicide investigation, what else did he lie about?”

“Adela Morris testified that her dog, Cholla, had ‘the strongest alert she had EVER seen’ on the mattress of Paul Flores. Her dog runs by every other room, every bathroom, every toilet, every shower… and only alerts on the bed of Paul Flores.”

“When Officer Cudworth first spoke to Paul Flores at the Campus Store, he said he didn’t appear nervous. Later that day, when Detective Kennedy comes to his room, he notes that Paul’s heart was ‘beating out of his chest’.”

“Why was he nervous? Because days before, Kristin Smart’s lifeless body laid on his mattress.”

“When he’s interviewed by the investigators, he claims that someone saw him in the dorm shower that morning, and says he could remember the time if he looked at a TV Guide. Paul never provides that TV Guide or that alibi witness, because there is no alibi.”

“Then we have Jennifer ****. She told her roommate Justin in 2002 what Paul had said to her. Justin — probably the person who knew her best at that time — believed her.”

“Her boyfriend, Brent — who the Defense actually called — corroborated EVERYTHING she said.”

“Ruben Flores has made a multi-decade effort to guard his yard. He doesn’t want Stan Smart anywhere near his deck. When Angie goes to visit, Ruben and Paul redirected her away from the deck. He wouldn’t even let a plumber go under the deck.”

“When law enforcement serves a search warrant and takes these photos of Ruben’s yard on February 5, 2020 — they know that time is ticking.”

(Pool photo: Laura Dickinson / @SLOTribune)

"The deck and lattice made for the perfect hiding place. Ground penetrating radar found an anomaly under the deck that was 6 feet by 4 feet – large enough to contain a human body. That area just happened to contain staining consistent with a human burial site."

"The stratigraphy was disturbed. It means the soil has been dug up before. A hole was dug, something leaked, and then the hole was dug up again and refilled. Cindy Arrington testified that this hole was dug by hand because there were no mechanical marks."

"There was no feathering pattern consistent with a plumbing leak. There were no ferret or primate bones or carcasses."

"Angie Butler has used the HemDirect test over a thousand times. It's a binary test – it's either blood, or it's not."

"Multiple red and black fibers were found in the sticky parts of the soil – and what was Kristin last seen wearing? Red tennis shoes and black shorts."

"Faye Springer said she could do a fiber comparison... but we CAN'T do a comparison, because THEY'RE still holding onto the body!" (points to Ruben and Susan Flores in the audience)

(Pool photo: Laura Dickinson / @SLOTribune)

"The floor of the cargo trailer tested negative for human blood. We know that cleaning solutions containing bleach can cause false-positives. So why would they bleach this area on the floor of the trailer, but nowhere else? Right after it was parked near Ruben Flores' deck?"

"We are required to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt, but not beyond ALL doubt. Everything in life is subject to SOME doubt. But is what the defense is arguing 'reasonable'?

19 year-olds do not spontaneously die and hide their own bodies."

"The law does not require a body to convict someone of murder. Why reward someone for successfully hiding a body?"

"Trevor Boelter told you he was roofied in 2012. And he told you that after that experience, he thought back, and realized that's exactly what he saw going on with Kristin Smart that night. He never saw her drinking or smelled any alcohol on her."

"You heard about 2 other rapes committed by Paul Flores. If you believe either one, it shows that he was inclined to commit rape. You are allowed to consider this for the limited purposes of deciding whether Paul acted with intent to commit a rape in THIS case."

"Paul Flores had a common plan or scheme to rape intoxicated women by separating them from others who could help them, and returning to his residence with them."

"There is no doubt that Paul Flores raped these women.

These women tell you what Kristin cannot.

What I am asking of you... is accountability. I ask that you render a truthful verdict."

Judge O'Keefe: "Mr. Sanger? Are you prepared to begin your closing?"

Defense Attorney Robert Sanger: "I didn't realize he was going to be that quick. (laughs) Let me just start up my computer."

"You have a pretty straightforward job. You have to decide whether or not a murder was committed, beyond a reasonable doubt. Short answer – it was not."

"I'm not ready with a Powerpoint yet. I will be in a bit. But after hearing Mr. Peuvrelle, I have to respond to what he said. Basically a bunch of conspiracy theories. If you believe Mr. Peuvrelle up to this point, you probably believe I'm rude or something. That's okay."

"Conspiracy theories can be fun. We love to hear them. We like to watch shows, and you think, 'I bet I know what happened'. But you're here as jurors. You took an oath that you would follow the rule of law."

"Mr. Peuvrelle said Mr. Flores is 'guilty as sin'. That's his opinion. His opinion is not evidence. What's evidence is what came in through the witnesses."

"So what I'm gonna do is, I've gotta hook up my computer. But there are a few things he said that I want to just address right away."

"He repeated the phrase 'dick tease' 8 or 10 times. Why? Because that evokes passion. He wants you to hate my client."

"A lot of the people who testified were not interviewed right away. They probably feel that they're being truthful – with the exception of Jennifer, but we'll talk about that."

"But the others say, 'Yeah, we saw all the publicity in the case'... then they talk about Paul Flores. They didn't know Paul Flores."

"More insidious are the people who inserted themselves into the case. Dennis Mahan (sic). Chris Lambert. They had theories."

"For those of you who think I'm being unfair, you're free to do that. That's fine. Mr. Peuvrelle really is trying to bootstrap a murder where there really is no evidence of one."

"A direct step requires more than just planning a rape. A direct step has to show the plan was put into action. Walking somebody home is not a direct step."

"I mean, just think about it for a moment. If this was an attempted rape, then everybody who had a drink in college or with someone at a bar... you know?"

"Let's see if I can do something else really quick before I ask the Court to take a break so we can hook up the computer."

"Um, Mr. Peuvrelle told you, 'You know, Kristin Smart would never leave her backpack or her makeup bag' – but then we have the testimony of... Fel-eep... who said that Kristin Smart went to his room whenever a man was present. Okay?"

"Your Honor, can we take about 2 minutes? I have it all plugged in, but I don't know what's gonna happen when I push the button."

Jurors are sent into the hallway while Sanger hooks up his computer. It takes 9 minutes.

Jurors are let back into the courtroom.

Sanger starts to talk about his Powerpoint presentation, but his microphone is not on.

"There we go. What I was saying was, Mr. Peuvrelle likes to put a big San Luis Obispo District Attorney seal up at the beginning of his Powerpoint, so I put a big SS & D (Sanger Swysen & Dunkle) logo up on mine. Either way, that's not evidence of anything."

Sanger moves to the first slide of his Powerpoint presentation.

"So... it turns out... um, and I'm not making this up – a defendant in a criminal case is presumed to be innocent."

"Now, Mr. Peuvrelle told you all about reasonable doubt. We're not talking about imaginary doubt here. You're not all dreaming, and then you're going to wake up and there was not a trial. That's not what this is."

(Pool photo: Laura Dickinson / @SLOTribune)

"I want to point out – this is a sad case. This is a sad case. You had all the appeal to emotions about 'so many Sundays'. She was engaged in some adverse behavior. Whatever happened to her, it was certainly some untoward behavior. She didn't want it to happen to her."

"Mr. Peuvrelle wants to say that Mr. Ted Bolter (sic) didn't really smell any alcohol. She was intoxicated long before. She was kissing a number of different guys and doing a number of different things and falling down. Alright."

"Mr. Peuvrelle put up a nice picture of her, but remember, that was a high school picture. And that's fine. But remember there was another picture you saw?"

(Pool photo: @adriennelu15 / @CourtTV)

"You can't say, 'Oh, I hate Paul Flores after all the things that Mr. Peuvrelle said', and you can't say, 'I feel bad for the Smart family' – which, I think we all do. But you can't say you're gonna convict him because of that."

"Mr. Peuvrelle said in his closing argument just now – which kind of surprised me, maybe it surprised you too – he said that Kristin Smart was buried out in Huasna."

Peuvrelle shakes his head.

"Saying that Huasna is right next to Arroyo Grande is like saying, 'Oh, Pebble Beach is right next to Salinas'. Which, I don't know. I'm not from here.

I'd like to be. I'd like to take a vacation here. (laughs)"

The jurors look very serious.

"And then we heard from [Jamilyn], who takes pictures from her bathroom window because she really doesn't like Ruben Flores. She's sick of all the honking and all of the people driving by, and she wants to get him out of there."

"She doesn't call the police. She calls Jim Murphy, the Smarts' lawyer who's been suing the Flores family for all these years. She gets the podcaster, and they tell Detective Cole to come down so they can give him this info. It's a very strange story. And we'll get into that."

"We had dogs alerting all over the place in this case. They alerted at the Performing Arts Center, they alerted at an administrative building."

Peuvrelle objects that this misstates the evidence, but is overruled.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure we heard testimony that they alerted at the Performing Arts Center, and they alerted at an administrative building."

Peuvrelle shakes his head.

"Mr. Peuvrelle isn't satisfied letting me argue. He's going to shake his head."

Peuvrelle nods his head.

Sanger: "Your Honor, that's totally inappropriate!"

Judge O'Keefe: "Let's move on."

"If these dogs had alerted up on a hill somewhere, and some student had been seen up on that hill, Mr. Peuvrelle would be asking you to find THAT student guilty, and ignore all the other alerts."

"You all got a 20-minute law school course this morning. More like an hourlong law school. If anyone's ever seen Saturday Night Live back in the day, you remember Father Guido Sarducci? He would give a Five Minute University crash course. Most of you are too young to remember."

"The Judge told you about direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. If you look out the window and see that it's raining, that's direct evidence. Although it still doesn't prove that it's true."

"But if you see someone walk in from outside and he's wearing a raincoat, and it's all wet – that's circumstantial evidence. Maybe he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and that's how he got all wet. You just don't know."

"You heard that there was a lot of publicity. You had posters. You had rumors. Innuendo. All sorts of things. We know that there was a lot of press."

"That's the elephant in the room here. I don't think I went through them. Um... there was Dateline. 48 Hours. 20/20. America's Most Wanted. The podcast. Plus local news. There was the website, Son of Susan. And there was Your Own Backyard."

"And you heard witnesses testify that Your Own Backyard wasn't biased – but there's one episode titled 'Son of Susan'."

"It's just made their life completely miserable for 25 years. You heard that there were rocks thrown at their house."

Several jurors squint, and one cocks her head at another. They never heard any evidence or testimony about rocks being thrown.

"And then 2017 leading up to 2018 – which is an election year for the Sheriff and the DA – there's all kinds of activity in this case."

(?)

"And then 2021 leading up to 2022, there's suddenly arrests."

"With Jennifer's story, there's all sorts of things. First of all, she says she's colorblind, and then she says, 'Oh, the truck was blue or green'."

"Steve **** said he was running by Kristin Smart's dorm room on his way to practice, and he's running, and he's still able to say Kristin Smart was uncomfortable and Paul Flores is a nasty person and all that."

"Cindy Arrington when she testified was very teacher-like, but then she couldn't answer questions on cross-exam. You saw it."

"Rhonda Doe was a really weird one. 25 years later, she says, 'Oh, I saw Paul Flores at this bar and I didn't know what happened and I was raped'. Then it came out on cross-exam that she had lived in Arroyo Grande when all this publicity went on."

"So many of these people who testified – SO many of them were associated with the website, Son of Susan, or they've talked to the podcaster, Chris Lambert."

"I think we heard that he was something like 7 years old when this happened. He's inserted himself into this case that he had nothing to do with, and came up with all sorts of conspiracy theories."

Judge O'Keefe asks Sanger to pause for an afternoon recess at 3:00pm.

After the break, Sanger starts to talk but his microphone is off.

"So we talked about influences of various people. About Mahan (sic) sending Detective Cole on various fruitless endeavors. The fact is that people who were subjected to McMahan (sic) or Chris Lambert were going to receive a lot of misinformation."

"It's true that, unfortunately, something probably did happen to Kristin Smart along the way. And that is sad."

"Jennifer was here under oath on the stand, and trying to convince you, 'Oh, I'm just a normal person, oh my goodness. Oh, motorcycle gang? I'm a girl, I don't know.'"

(Pool photo: Laura Dickinson / @SLOTribune)

"Then Detective Cole testified that in late October, they planned to leak info about the trucks. But then Mr. Peuvrelle makes him look at his notes and he says, 'Oh, it probably happened closer to January.' Well, okay."

"But then you have Mr. Lambert at some point coaching a witness to say she saw a 4x4 white truck because HE saw a 4x4."

(?)

"Then you heard all about the supposed lies about this black eye. When young people get a black eye, what do they say? 'Oh, I don't know'. A lot of people don't want to talk about it. He was very straightforward about everything else."

"Even if these things make you wonder – Mr. Peuvrelle wants you to wonder – it's not proof of a murder."

"[Dog handlers] use a lot of lingo like 'in odor'. What's 'in odor'? That's the imagination of the dog handler. I don't want to disparage these people, because they're volunteers. It's a noble thing. It's something like playing golf, only it's more significant. It's wonderful."

"They got certified by their own private group, which is one of many groups all over the country. Adela Morris started a new group, which, I think, she uses to make profits. Somebody said that."

"We gotta come back tomorrow. I gotta talk about the so-called blood evidence, et cetera. But I'm going to keep going."

"So I think what's gonna happen next is we're gonna break here, and we'll come back tomorrow and talk about the other evidence you heard."

Judge O'Keefe: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to have you return tomorrow at 8:30am."