Paul Flores may be moved to a protective housing unit after 2 prison attacks, CDCR says
Paul Flores, who was convicted of killing Kristin Smart, may be moved to a protective housing unit at his current prison or a different one after he was attacked twice by other inmates at the Coalinga facility where he’s been housed since August.
On two separate occasions over the last eight months, Flores has been stabbed while incarcerated at Pleasant Valley State Prison, where he’s serving a sentence of 25 years to life after he was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Smart, who was last seen alive with Flores on Memorial Day weekend 1996.
Flores arrived at the Coalinga prison in early August 2023 and was attacked within a matter of weeks.
Jason Budrow, an inmate serving two life sentences for the murder of his girlfriend and the prison murder of the “I-5 strangler,” is accused of stabbing Flores in the neck on Aug. 23. Flores was sent to the hospital in serious condition but returned to the prison the next day.
Budrow has since been charged with attempted murder and assault in connection to the incident.
Then, on April 10, another inmate stabbed Flores. He was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and has since returned to prison.
That suspect’s name has not yet been released, but Alia Cruz, spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said he has been placed in restrictive housing as the investigation continues.
Cruz said the agency’s “top priority is the safety and security of the people who live and work in its institutions.”
Cruz said Flores is currently being reviewed for placement in a protective housing unit, a unit that is necessary for inmates who cannot safely function in general population, a sensitive needs yard or non-designated program facilities. A protective housing unit could be within the Coalinga prison or outside of it, but Cruz said the agency could not provide further details.
A sensitive needs yard is housing for incarcerated people who have safety concerns living on a general population yard, according to CDCR’s website, while non-designated program facilities house people together regardless of their general population or sensitive needs yard status to afford incarcerated people greater access to rehabilitative programs.
California prison regulations define protective housing units as housing for inmates “whose safety would be endangered by general population inmates and provides secure housing and care for inmates with safety concerns of such magnitude, that no other viable housing options are available.”
A review board must approve an inmates transfer into protective housing.
