With a jury already deliberating whether or not to seek out Paul Flores responsible of the 1996 homicide of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo scholar Kristin Good, a second jury on Wednesday started contemplating the destiny of his father, who’s charged as an adjunct to the crime.

Ruben Flores’ legal professional, Harold Mesick, instructed jurors the proof exhibits 19-year-old Good was “not completely satisfied” at Cal Poly and should still be alive.

Flores, 81, is being tried alongside along with his 45-year-old son. The case was moved by a San Luis Obispo County choose greater than 100 miles north to make sure honest authorized proceedings. Two juries have heard proof concurrently over 11 weeks. One is deliberating Paul Flores’ destiny. The opposite heard closing arguments Wednesday within the case in opposition to Ruben Flores.

“It’s the intent to learn the verdicts one after the opposite,” Monterey County Decide Jennifer O’Keefe mentioned of the separate expenses.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Chris Peuvrelle instructed jurors that Ruben Flores helped his son conceal Good’s stays below his deck in Arroyo Grande, Calif., for many years.

Peuvrelle mentioned that when Paul Flores killed the school scholar in Could 1996 inside his dorm, he made a name. “He knew the one one that would assist with a lifeless woman on his mattress was his father,” the prosecutor mentioned. “It was his model of a 911 name.”

Peuvrelle mentioned Flores raped or tried to rape and finally killed Good earlier than hiding her stays with the assistance of his father. Though Good’s physique has by no means been discovered, she was declared legally lifeless in 2002.

Her physique, Peuvrelle mentioned, was the important thing proof of a criminal offense. “Ruben Flores has been serving to him for the final 26 years,” the prosecutor mentioned.

However Mesick countered that Good continues to be lacking.

“The state has performed an awesome job of demonizing Paul Flores and my consumer,” the protection legal professional mentioned in his closing remarks. However “my consumer is totally harmless. He has not dug a grave in his life. I feel this case screams affordable doubt.”

Mesick known as the prosecution’s principle that Ruben Flores helped his then-19-year-old son transfer a physique from his dormitory room and bury it beneath his deck — the place the stays had been allegedly eliminated in 2020 — “ludicrous.”

“What distinguishes this case from most circumstances is the dearth of bodily proof,” Mesick mentioned, boldly asking jurors to return a fast verdict to ship a message to prosecutors.

“There aren’t any bones, no tooth, no physique components. Kristin Good could also be simply lacking,” he mentioned. “She was not completely satisfied at Cal Poly. It’s affordable to deduce she is alive someplace.”

Good was final seen strolling with Paul Flores close to residence halls on campus on Could 25, 1996, after attending a celebration. However Peuvrelle instructed jurors that Flores, a fellow Cal Poly scholar, had “hunted” her for months, ceaselessly showing the place she was, together with her dormitory.

The night time of the get together, he appeared out of the darkness to stroll her dwelling after she had handed out on a garden, the prosecutor mentioned.

Mesick countered that Flores was there when Good fell down and “he picked her up.”

“He was doing a great deed. He was not looking her,” he mentioned.

For the reason that trial’s begin in July, Peuvrelle has sought to piece collectively a story of how throughout a four-day interval when Flores was not seen on campus, he allegedly eliminated Good’s physique with the assistance of his father and buried it beneath the deck of his father’s Arroyo Grande home.

Ruben Flores, the prosecutor alleged, saved folks away from the deck for years. Then, in 2020, as police had been zeroing in on the home, a neighbor testified that she noticed a trailer again as much as the property.

Peuvrelle mentioned that after they finally searched Flores’ dwelling after his arrest in April 2021, they discovered a “trophy room” with a number of gadgets tied to the Good investigation, together with a be aware that said, “Dig the yard.”

He confirmed a stark piece of floor beneath the deck and mentioned, “That is Kristin’s grave.”

A soil scientist and archaeologist testified that floor radar confirmed an anomaly within the soil and indications of bodily fluids that had been in step with a physique having been buried and eliminated, the prosecutor repeatedly reminded jurors. The opening was 6 ft by 4 ft by 4 ft. Archaeologist Cindy Arrington, Peuvrelle famous, mentioned that the opening was dug by hand and that fluid had leaked into the soil slowly, making a bath-like ring.

Exhibiting slides from a PowerPoint presentation, Peuvrelle mentioned {that a} chemical take a look at performed by an unbiased lab confirmed “constructive” for the presence of human blood within the soil, and that fibers recovered from the soil matched the colours of Good’s clothes.

Mesick, nevertheless, mentioned professional protection witnesses indicated the blood take a look at that was used is invalid for soil. He mentioned there would have been gallons of liquid had a physique been there.

“The quantity of blood is so minuscule … it may very well be anybody’s blood. It may very well be Ruben Flores’ blood,” he mentioned. “I’m going to inform you it’s not Kristin Good’s blood.”

To search out Flores responsible of accent to homicide, the jury should first discover that his son dedicated first- or second-degree homicide, Peuvrelle reminded jurors.

Peuvrelle mentioned testimony from two girls — recognized in the course of the trial as Sarah Doe and Rhonda Doe, who mentioned Paul Flores raped them many years after Good vanished — helps the prosecution’s principle that Flores sexually assaulted Good, then killed her and hid her physique.

“The one truthful verdict is Ruben Flores is responsible of accent,” Peuvrelle instructed the jury.