Paul Flores’ attempt to overturn or reduce his conviction for the murder of Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart is full of “meritless claims,” the California Attorney General’s Office argued in a new court filing.
Flores filed his appellate brief in October — two years after his conviction for the 1996 murder. He argued that Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe abused her discretion in multiple instances, including not excusing a juror he argued showed signs of bias, allowing women to testify Flores raped them and permitting a ball-gag photo to be shown at the end of the trial.
His appeal argued that while just one of these supposed errors doesn’t rise to a violation of due process on its own, the accumulation of all the errors did and deprived Flores of a fair trial. He argued the conviction — for which he is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence — should be overturned or reduced to second-degree murder…