Peterson won’t be forced to testify in Smart preliminary hearing, judge rules
The hearing in the disappearance and murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart has taken several strange turns, from a controversy over the color purple to a move to compel both a podcaster and convicted killer Scott Peterson to testify in the case of the missing Stockton student.
Smart hasn't been seen since disappearing on the walk from a party to her dorm on Memorial Day weekend 1996. The lone suspect for more than two decades was Paul Flores, a fellow Cal Poly student who walked back with her that night. Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested April 13, marking the first time anyone has been arrested in connection with Smart's disappearance.
Investigators say Paul Flores, now 44, killed Smart during an attempted sexual assault and his father helped hide the body under their family home in Arroyo Grande. The pair are currently in the midst of a preliminary hearing in San Luis Obispo Superior Court to determine if there is probable cause for the case to move to a criminal trial. Paul and Ruben Flores have pleaded not guilty to murder and accessory to murder, respectively.
On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen barred testimony related to a number of other "suspects" put forward by the defense. The most high-profile and baffling among them was convicted murderer Scott Peterson, who is currently incarcerated at San Quentin for the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child.
Bob Sanger, who represents Paul Flores, argued Peterson once told people he disposed of a body near a body of water.
Van Rooyen ruled any testimony related to Peterson is inadmissible, as the grounds for introducing him as a suspect were based on heresy. Van Rooyen also ruled out testimony that would seek to implicate Smart's exboyfriend and a Cal Poly student who was suspected in the murder of a woman in San Diego.
It was not the first time van Rooyen ruled against the defense's unorthodox requests. On Aug. 25, the judge ruled against a motion put forward by Sanger to disqualify the entire San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case.
Sanger argued that because Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle wore a purple tie to court, he was displaying a bias in the case. Sanger said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Detective Clint Cole and two other individuals connected with the D.A.'s office wore purple, which Sanger referred to as "team colors." Smart's favorite color was purple.
Ultimately, van Rooyen ruled that colors do not constitute a significant bias that could affect the outcome of the hearing, and the motion was dismissed.
Also Thursday, attorneys for the Floreses continued their cross-examinations of a crime scene technician and her process of excavating several locations at an Arroyo Grande residence, where investigators believe Smart's remains were buried.
Sanger and Harold Mesick, who represents Ruben Flores, questioned Shelby Liddell, a forensic specialist with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office who participated in digging for Smart's body during March and April search warrants executed on the family home.
Liddell resumed testimony, after initially taking the stand Sept. 1, about two dig sites along a narrow, sloped section of dirt located in the backyard under the deck of the house — one excavated March 15 to 16 and another from April 13 to 14.