Cadaver dog handler who searched for missing student Kristin Smart in 1996 says highly trained animal gave 'the strongest alert I've ever seen' when it entered dorm of 'killer' Paul Flores
A cadaver dog handler who searched a dorm room for signs of missing student Kristin Smart has said that the animal gave 'probably the strongest alert I've seen her do' when it entered the dorm room of her accused killer.
Handler Adela Morris told a court Wednesday how she searched Paul Flores' Cal Poly dorm room in 1996 with the animal, which is trained to detect human remains.
Paul, who was a 19-year-old Cal Poly student at the time of Smart's disappearance and is now 44, is accused of killing Smart during an attempted rape in his dorm room and has been charged with first-degree murder.
His father Ruben Flores, now 80, allegedly helped his son hide his victim's body and was charged with accessory to murder after the fact. Both have pleaded not guilty to their charges.
Smart was last seen on May 25, 1996. Her body has never been found.
Witness testimony continued Wednesday during the seventh day of the month-long preliminary hearing in the case against the father and son.
Morris testified that the cadaver dog she used to search the Cal Poly residence hall for any trace of Smart 'was absolutely one of the most trained dogs in California.'
Morris is an expert witness in cadaver dog handling having worked with her dog, Cholla, for 35 years, but the defense argued there's not enough foundation for her to testify and questions her qualifications.
Paul Flores looks on during the second day of his preliminary hearing Tuesday Aug. 3, 2021
Kristin Smart was last seen on May 25, 1996, with Paul Flores while returning to her dorm at Cal Poly University
Adela Morris testified on Wednesday that her highly trained dog 'gave me probably the strongest alert I've seen her do' leading her straight to Paul Flores' room. Morris is pictured with one of her dogs - it is unclear whether it is Cholla, who was involved in the search
Paul and Kristin were both freshmen at Cal Poly in 1996 when she vanished. He was staying in Santa Maria Hall and she was in Muir Hall, which are 0.2miles apart - a four minute walk
Under cross-examination, Paul's defense attorney Robert Sanger asked Morris several clarifying questions about her certification.
She said that she has a certificate from CARDA (California Rescue Dog Association) and that the dogs have to be re-certified every year.
She said Cholla was first certified in 1995 and that she had to prove the dog's capabilities before earning her certification.
He also asked about her income, which is when Morris explained she founded two nonprofits - the Institute for Canine Forensics and the Canine Specialized Search Team .
She gets paid work through the Institute for Canine Forensics but CSST is all volunteer work.
In 1996, Morris and Cholla aided in the search of Paul's dorm and other locations following Smart's disappearance.
Paul and Ruben Flores have both pleaded not guilty to the charges in connection to Smart's murder
San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle argues to add to Paul's charges as he is also now suspected of other rapes
Robert Sanger is representing Paul Flores. He attempted to argue that Morris was not qualified to give her testimony which the judge denied
Morris testified on the stand that Cholla alerted her to a piece of plastic in a dumpster and showed interest around the Performing Arts Center and at the Arroyo Grande home of Paul's mother, Susan Flores.
Both defense attorneys questioned if cleaning agents could hinder a dog's detection of human remains, but Morris clarified that dogs can still pick up scent signatures.
She added that she didn't know Paul's dorm room had already been cleaned when she searched it.
Judge Craig van Rooyen also joined in the questioning and asked Morris if she thinks Cholla was reliable for detecting human remains. She responded, 'At the time, was one of the most trained dogs in the state.'
During cross-examination, Morris said she is unsure of Cholla's false-positive rate because they didn't track it at the time. 'I'm aware dogs can make mistakes. I'm assuming may have had some mistakes.'
Paul Flores, 44, was arrested in April for the murder of his former classmate Kristin Smart
Flores has previously invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions before a grand jury and in a deposition for a lawsuit that was brought against him in relation to the investigation
Sanger continued to argue that Morris doesn't have proper qualifications, was unsure of Cholla's false-positive rate, and wasn't able to testify about alerts leading to potential evidence; however, the judge ruled that her testimony would be permissible moving the discussions to the search of Paul's dorm room.
Morris says that her dog immediately alerted her to a door on the left side of Santa Lucia Hall, room #128 giving her 'the strongest alert she's ever seen her do.'
Morris says both of her dogs, Cholla and Cirque, 'strongly alerted' to the left side of the room, specifically having interest in the mattress and desk.
After searching each floor and open room in the dorm, Morris testified she returned with Cholla to Paul's room and again the dog alerted to the bed frame after detectives removed the mattress.
Sanger also questioned Morris about a letter she wrote about the dogs' alerts to a colleague before writing her report. Morris said that she was looking for advice saying she didn't speak with the other dog handlers at the scene to ensure a 'blind search.' She explained that searches are 'more powerful when you have multiple dogs alerting when the teams don't know the results.'
Ruben's attorney, Harold Mesick asked if Morris knew what the search was for at the time to which Morris replied that she knew it was in connection to Smart's disappearance, but she was not aware whose dorm room she was searching.
Flores was arrested and charged for Smart's murder in April. He had long been the top suspect in the case after being the last person to see her alive after a party during their freshman year at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
When Flores was arrested in April in Smart's murder, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow revealed for the first time that investigators believed he killed the young woman during an attempted rape.
Investigators search Flores' fathers house in February of 2020 and again in March 2021
Investigators had found 'biological evidence' that Smart's body had been buried at the home but had recently been moved
Smart's family have since filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court claiming her body was buried in Ruben's yard but he moved it 'under the cover of darkness'
Paul's ex-girlfriend testified in court on Tuesday that she was told to get away from the avocado trees in Ruben's backyard during a visit to Paul's father's house
Smart, 19, was last seen alive at around 2 am on May 25, 1996 when she headed back to her dorm at the California Polytechnic State University University campus with Paul after attending an off-campus party. For 25 years, her disappearance remained a mystery while Paul was long regarded as the prime suspect.
During Tuesday's hearing, Paul's ex-girlfriend claimed he told her to 'get away' from the backyard of his father's home where cops now believe the college student's remains were buried.
The woman, identified only as Angie Doe, told the court about an incident where Paul and Ruben ordered her out of the yard of the home in Arroyo Grande sometime in the early 2000s. Prosecutors allege that, at the time, Smart's body was buried in the backyard before the father-and-son team recently moved her remains to an unknown location.
Speaking about a two-day visit at Paul's mother's house, she said she and Paul also visited his father at his home at 710 White Court in Arroyo Grande. She testified that she went for a stroll in the backyard 'just to look around' and was standing a couple of feet from the avocado trees in the yard.
She said there were about five golden retrievers under the deck at the time. At that point, she claimed both Paul and Ruben abruptly told her to get away from the area by the trees and out of the yard. 'I don't remember if it was Mr. Flores or Ruben, but they redirected me away from the avocado trees,' she told the court.
'They told me to come around the and get away from that area.' She added that Paul 'just wanted me to get away from the trees.'
Prosecutors have alleged in court documents that 'damning' biological evidence proves Smart's body was once buried in the backyard of the home. One month before Paul and Ruben's arrests in April, investigators searched the property and the grounds around it using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.
Following their arrests, investigators were seen searching the home again and dismantling a deck that leads underneath the house. Prosecutors say Smart's body was recently moved and that the two men know where her remains are. A temporary motion hearing is scheduled for August 25.