California Attorney General Rob Bonta is pushing back against Paul Flores, the man convicted of murdering California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) freshman Kristin Smart in 1996, for his request to overturn or reduce his convictions, calling his request “meritless.” 

Flores is currently serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for Smart’s murder following a three-month trial in October 2022. 

In a new 107-page court filing, Flores’ defense claimed that Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe abused her discretion multiple times, including not dismissing a juror that Flores argued showed signs of bias and allowing a ball-gag photo to be shown at the end of the trial.

His appeal argued that while just one of the alleged errors did not deprive him of his right to a fair trial, but that the accumulation of all the errors did.

According to the court schedule, Flores is expected to respond to the attorney general’s brief by May 5.

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com