2022-07-25
53 分钟You're listening to a special bonus series of the your own backyard podcast titled people versus Flores, a weekly recap of the murder trial of Paul and Ruben Flores.
Since filming and audio recording aren't currently allowed inside the courtroom, these episodes will recount handwritten notes taken by host Chris Lambert, breaking from our typical documentary format in an effort to get updates out as regularly and succinctly as possible.
These recaps will likely contain subject matter that may be graphic and disturbing to some listeners.
Listener discretion is advised.
On June 13, over 1500 prospective jurors filed into the Salinas courthouse, broken up into groups throughout the day.
It was the largest jury pool in Monterey county history.
Each potential juror was asked to fill out a questionnaire noting any financial hardships, scheduling conflicts or other personal conflicts that could prevent them from sitting on the jury.
People with no conflicts were allowed to leave as soon as they turned in their finished questionnaire.
The rest of them sat filling three separate courtrooms as Judge Jennifer Okeefe asked follow up questions and eventually dismissed anyone with a legitimate hardship, including lack of reliable transportation, surgeries that could not be rescheduled, or non refundable vacations that had already been scheduled and paid for.
Over the next four days, 1500 prospective jurors were whittled down to 300.
9270 of them were instructed to return on June 20 to potentially be seated for Paul Flores as jury.
The remaining 120 were instructed to return on June 27 to potentially be seated for Reuben Flores jury.
Because both defendants are being tried together but with their own separate juries, members of each pool were instructed not to discuss the case with anyone, including each other, and to not do any outside research on the case.
During the trial.
Pauls jurors will be seated in a jury box on the left hand side of the courtroom while Rubens jurors fill the left side of the audience seating the following week.
Theyll switch places and that rotation will continue every week for as long as the trial lasts.
Rubens jurors will be excused from the courtroom anytime testimony or evidence presented about Paul could implicate Rubin in a crime, and vice versa.
On June 19, the day before Paul's jury selection was scheduled to begin, the courthouse sent out a mass email to media representatives indicating that the proceedings were being postponed by a week, citing a health concern among one of the trial participants.
This health concern was never elaborated on Paul Flores official jury selection began on June 27.
Prospective jurors were told that Paul has been charged with the crime of murder with malice aforethought during the attempted commission of a rape.