Kristin Smart trial jury selection delayed over health concerns

LOS ANGELES — Jury selection in the Kristin Smart murder trial has ground to a halt because of unspecified health concerns linked to accused killer Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, who is charged with helping dispose of the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo student’s body 26 years ago.

More than 1,500 Monterey County residents received a jury duty summons for the selection process, which began June 13. The jury pool will be whittled to 40 jurors, including alternates, for two trials.

But selection in the trial against Paul Flores has now been pushed back until Monday, and it is unclear when Ruben Flores’ jury will be selected, according to court officials in Monterey County, where the trial was transferred. Paul Flores’ trial was slated to begin early next month.

The exact nature of the health concerns and which defendant was involved were not revealed. Paul Flores is 45; his father is 80. Since the pandemic, it is not uncommon for defendants to become infected with the coronavirus, forcing delays in proceedings.

Smart’s disappearance and subsequent murder investigation have haunted the Central Coast college community for decades, with billboards appealing for evidence to convict her killer. Her body has never been found, but she was legally declared dead in 2002.

San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s detectives arrested Paul Flores at his home in the Los Anglees harbor community of San Pedro in April 2021, nearly 25 years after Smart vanished.

His father, Ruben, was also taken into custody last year at his home in Arroyo Grande, in San Luis Obispo County. He is charged with being an accessory to the crime after prosecutors say he moved Smart’s body.