The documents, which were published online and confirmed by the court to be authentic, were “inadvertently accessed” and “not supposed to be made public,” Nikki Rodriguez, spokesperson for the San Luis Obispo Superior Court, told CNN.
Both men pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of first-degree murder and accessory. They have been held in jail since their arrests on the morning of April 13.
A sheriff’s office detective in the case stated that investigators are “in possession of biological evidence that makes them believe the victim was buried underneath the defendant’s deck at one time.”
Prosecutors in the document also accused Paul Flores of being a “serial rapist,” an accusation made public for the first time.
“Dozens of women have recounted Paul Flores’ sexual assaults and predatory behavior that document his twenty-five years as a serial rapist,” Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle wrote in the report.
Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed last week Paul Flores is under investigation for sexual assaults in Los Angeles County and police have submitted two cases to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Peuvrelle urged the court to keep Paul Flores in custody and warned that if he were to be released, “the Court would be putting a serial rapist back on the streets and leave him free to victimize additional women.”
A judge ruled Monday that Paul Flores should remain held without bail.
Ruben Flores was initially being held in San Luis Obispo County Jail on $250,000 bail. His lawyer Harold Mesick requested a bail reduction, arguing the 80-year-old defendant posed no flight risk and is in poor health, having undergone triple bypass heart surgery and suffering from colitis and diabetes.
However, Peuvrelle argued in his report that “The excavation below his deck… showed damning evidence that a body had been buried in that location then recently moved.”
The prosecutor noted it is reasonable to believe Ruben Flores knows where Smart’s remains are, and ventured that if released on bail, Flores would “use his freedom to continue his attempts to help Paul Flores thwart the prosecution in this case and continue to hide her remains.”
Smart’s family also opposed a reduction in bail, calling Ruben Flores a “coward” and expressing fear that “his release on bail directly threatens the safety of our family.”
On Wednesday, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig Van Rooyen lowered the bail for Ruben Flores to $50,000 with conditions.
The judge ordered that if Ruben Flores is released, he must wear an electronic monitoring device, not leave San Luis Obispo County and surrender his passport 24 hours after returning home.
None of the attorneys involved in the case would comment, citing a gag order.
“There is a protective order prohibiting our office from discussing the case publicly,” San Luis Obispo Deputy DA Eric Dobroth told CNN Wednesday.
Robert Sanger, lawyer for Paul Flores had no comment, nor did Mesick, who previously called the evidence in the case “so minimal as to shock the conscience.”
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency/news feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.
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