Paul Flores listens during his murder trial in Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas, Calif., on July 18, 2022. (Daniel Dreifuss/Monterey County Weekly via AP)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—A California judge ruled Monday that a man convicted of killing 19-year-old college student Kristin Smart in 1996 must pay just over $350,000 to her family for costs they incurred after her death.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O'Keefe ordered Paul Flores to make the payments after a hearing last Wednesday, during which the family told the court how much they paid for travel, a private investigator, billboards seeking information, lost wages and a celebration of life gathering.
“It’s demeaning to Kristin’s memory to measure our loss in finances,” her mother Denise Smart told The Tribune of San Luis Obispo after Wednesday’s hearing. “Our loss is Kristin.”
The family had sought about $361,000 in restitution. Judge O'Keefe told the family that they could seek additional restitution if they wish to submit other expenses.
California courts require those convicted of crimes to compensate victims for the expenses that were caused, regardless of a defendant’s ability to pay. The state corrections department collects 50 percent of prison wages and money deposited in convict’s trust account to pay restitution.
Smart went missing from California Polytechnic State University in May 1996. Prosecutors alleged she was killed during an attempted rape and that the last person she was seen with was Flores, a fellow student. Kristin Smart was declared legally dead in 2002.
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