Paul Flores, the man convicted of killing Kirstin Smart, a California college student who vanished in 1996, faces life in prison at his sentencing hearing on Friday.

Flores was found guilty in October of the first-degree murder of Smart, whose body has not yet been found. She was declared legally dead in 2002.

Smart — a freshman at the time of her disappearance at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo — was last seen alive around 2 a.m. on May 25, 1996. She was intoxicated and leaving a party with Flores, who has long maintained his innocence. He has claimed he walked Smart part of the way home before returning to his dorm.

Prosecutors during his murder trial argued the pair returned together to the room, where Flores killed her during an attempted rape.

Flores was arrested in 2021 alongside his father, Ruben Flores, who was accused of helping his son cover up the crime. He was acquitted of being an accessory by a separate jury.

Before the sentencing on Friday, a judge will consider defense motions to toss out Flores’ conviction, acquit him and order a new trial. Attorney Robert Sanger filed the motions last month, alleging Flores’ right to a fair trial was violated because of prosecution errors and “the admission of junk science as evidence.”

“There is a reason that a case against Paul Flores was not brought for 25 years,” the motion said. “There was no evidence of a murder or that Paul Flores committed it.”

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office asked the court to reject those requests and denied any misconduct occurred.

With News Wire Services