The Plaintiff: Smart Family v. Cal Poly

The plaintiff in the case, the Smart Family, filed a civil complaint after the Cal Poly President publicly apologized to the family in May 2023, recognizing that things should have been handled differently and stating that he "personally wish[ed] that they had." Kristin Smart was a 19-year-old Cal Poly student who disappeared in May 1996 after attending an off-campus party. Twenty-six years later, in October of 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of her murder.

The Defendant: Smart Family v. Cal Poly

The defendant in the case, Cal Poly, allegedly breached its legal duty by not pursuing a missing persons case promptly, failing to interview witnesses promptly, not sealing the primary suspect's dorm room (Paul Flores), and allowing the primary suspect's dorm room to be sanitized before the search that was conducted 16 days after Smart's disappearance. In addition to the university's actions following the disappearance of Smart, they allegedly failed to take appropriate action to multiple other reports about Paul Flores's threatening stalking and harassing behaviors before Smart's murder.

The Case: Smart Family v. Cal Poly

While the Smart family has exhausted the procedural processes available to receive the full investigative file from Cal Poly, they still have not received it. The Smart family alleges that the primary suspect in their daughter's disappearance and murder should not have been on campus based on prior complaints and incidents. Secondly, they claim that the university was negligent in responding to Smart's disappearance.

If you have questions about filing a California wrongful death lawsuit, don't hesitate to contact Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced wrongful death attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.