family of Christine Smart, a college student in California The girl, who disappeared more than 20 years ago, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the California Institute of Technology, claiming it is partially responsible for her death.
“Paul Flores took Christine's life,” Dennis Smart said in an exclusive interview. tribune and In May. “Cal Poly took what was ours.”
Lawyers for the Smart family said the university's public apology denied that Stan and Dennis Smart had no knowledge that the university might have additional information about their daughter's death in 1996. The floodgates have opened for them.
”[W]”I recognize that things should have been done differently, and I personally wish they had been,” University of California President Jeffrey Armstrong said in a May 2023 apology. This was the university's first public apology.
California jury finds Paul Flores guilty, Ruben Flores not guilty in 1996 death of Kristin Smart
Kristin Smart went missing on May 25, 1996, while attending California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo. (Axel Kester/Sigma via Getty Images)
Mark Lewis, one of Smart's attorneys, told the Tribune that to her devastated parents, it seemed like Cal Poly had been “withholding information” about their daughter's murder for decades.
“It wasn't until that apology was issued that the family began to understand Cal Poly's failure,” Lewis told a local newspaper. “We don't know what information the president had to make that apology, but it appears that UC Poly kept the information secret and secret from the Smart family for decades.”
This undated photo released by the FBI shows Kristin Smart, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student who disappeared in 1996. Paul and Ruben Flores are charged in connection with her alleged death. (FBI via AP)
After receiving the university's apology, the Smarts decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
The family is suing the university for negligence, tort causing emotional distress, and wrongful death. The family did not seek specific damages as part of the lawsuit.
The complaint says the university “failed to promptly investigate disappearances, interviewed witnesses in a timely manner, failed to seal off the prime suspect's room as a crime scene, and failed to disinfect and clean the suspect's room prior to the search.” “I was not allowed to do so,” he claims. They did not search the suspect's room until 16 days after Kristen's disappearance. ”
The complaint also alleges that the University of California could have prevented her murder had several other harassment incidents reported regarding Paul Flores been investigated and properly disciplined.
The lawsuit says the university's actions are “indefensible” and that “it must be held accountable to ensure this cycle of callous negligence never occurs again.”
Kristen Smart killer Paul Flores sentenced to 25 years in prison for California murder
The family argued that Kristen's death was “more than just a statistic” and said in the lawsuit that they want to “hold accountability” from the University of California.
“President Armstrong's acknowledgment of their failure is a step in the right direction, but it cannot erase the pain and injustice we have endured,” the family told the Tribune. “Kristin was more than just a statistic. She was a vibrant, bright young woman with a promising future. We cannot bring her back, but we can demand accountability and ensure that other families do not suffer the same fate.” You can choose not to follow it.”
We can't bring Christine back, but we can demand accountability and prevent other families from suffering the same fate.
Kristen was a freshman at Cal Polity University when she disappeared in 1996. Ms. Smart was declared legally dead in 2002, even though her body was never recovered. (Don Kelsen/Los Angeles Times)
Smart was a student at the University of California, San Luis Obispo campus in 1996 when she allegedly got drunk with Paul Flores after an off-campus party on Crandall Way. She returned from the party with three people: a man, a woman, and Flores. After Ms. Flores allegedly insisted multiple times that she could take Smart home safely, her other things slowly peeled away.
She was never seen again.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2002 she was declared legally dead.
Flores was convicted of her murder in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Her father, Ruben Flores, was acquitted after the fact by another jury as an alternate.
Lawyers for the Smart family and Caltech did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.
