Can Kristin Smart podcaster cover murder trial? Here’s how judge ruled on subpoena

A Monterey County Superior Court judge on Friday revoked a subpoena for the podcaster credited with renewing interest in the Kristin Smart case.

Chris Lambert, whose “Your Own Backyard” podcast examines Smart’s disappearance more than 25 years ago, told the Tribune via text on Friday that the subpoena was quashed.

It was the second time that defense attorneys tried to force Lambert to testify during the murder trial against Paul and Ruben Flores.

Paul Flores, 45, is accused of murdering 19-year-old Smart after an off-campus party in May 1996, while his father, 81-year-old Ruben Flores, is accused of helping hide her body. The two men were arrested in April 2021.

The Flores trial moved to Salinas after San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen ruled in April that the two men could not receive a fair trial in San Luis Obispo County because of pretrial publicity.

In April 2021, van Rooyen ruled that Lambert would not have to take the stand or release his records during the Flores trial — citing California’s shield law, which protects journalists from revealing unnamed sources and information obtained during newsgathering, and freedom of the press privileges protected under the First Amendment.

According to Lambert, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe ruled in line with van Rooyen’s decision on Friday and revoked the subpoena.

The subpoena, issued July 10, asked Lambert to provide for about everything he had regarding his research and reporting on the Kristin Smart case. It asked for recordings, outtakes, documents and communications with sources.

Lambert told the Tribune that the recent subpoena was nearly identical to one issued by the defense during August preliminary hearings in August.

When he was served the second subpoena, Lambert was unable to publicly report about the trial and talk about the subpoena because of the gag order placed on the case.

Now that the subpoena has been revoked, he is able to continue his reporting just in time for opening statements in the murder trial, which are scheduled to begin Monday.

Lambert said he plans to attend the trial every day and release weekly “Your Own Backyard” episodes detailing what happened in court each week.