<
One of two defendants on trial for killing Morgan Hill resident Cody Flores admitted he stabbed the young man to death out of fear for his own safety when he testified last week. The other defendant said he didn’t have anything to do with the deadly assault, and had been hanging out with Flores—who he described as a friend—on mostly good terms earlier that evening.
<
The defendants—Chase Benoit and Spencer Smith, both 22-year-old Morgan Hill residents—recently took the stand in the trial that started in early February at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. They are accused of murdering Flores May 31, 2015, outside a house party near the intersection of Diana Avenue and Ringle Drive in east Morgan Hill.
<
Benoit testified Feb. 22 and 23, claiming that he acted alone when he stabbed Flores following a confrontation between the two at the party. Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney David Pandori showed the jury and Benoit a series of Facebook messages between Flores and Benoit leading up to the night of Flores’ death, in which the two young men threatened each other over an ongoing dispute.
<
While Pandori suggested the messages and other communications indicate Benoit wanted to hurt Flores, the defendant said he was the one who felt in danger. Benoit deleted his Facebook account shortly after May 31, 2015.
<
“I wanted to attack him before he could attack me,” Benoit said of Flores, under questioning from Pandori.
<
Flores, Benoit and Smith all attended the May 31 party, along with dozens of their friends and acquaintances. Smith testified that he knew almost everyone there. Benoit said, “Everyone was drunk at the party.”
<
Benoit described his confrontation with Flores, though he conceded he doesn’t remember many details. He said at one point late in the evening, Flores began walking toward him and his truck, which was parked in a field near the party. Benoit said he “swung at him,” but Flores moved out of the way. Flores then put his hand in his pocket and turned around and ran.
<
Benoit then followed Flores, and the two came into contact again near a fence surrounding the property. Benoit then stabbed Flores several times with his own pocket knife, though he said he doesn’t remember where on his body or how many times he stabbed him.
<
Pandori presented a photo depicting dried puddles of blood on the ground where Flores was stabbed. He noted at one point that Flores had been stabbed 14 times.
<
Benoit said he did not know what Flores had in his pocket, and he did not see a knife or other weapon in his hand.
<
Benoit repeatedly said “I don’t know” and “I don’t remember” in response to many of Pandori’s questions about other details of the 2015 evening. He said he didn’t remember what happened to the clothes he was wearing, after he took them off to shower when he returned home immediately after he stabbed Flores. When asked if he burned his shirt, Benoit replied, “I don’t think so.”
<
Earlier in the trial, Pandori presented photos of burned clothing that he suggested was worn by at least one of the defendants the night of Flores’ death.
<
Benoit also described his relationship with Smith. The two are longtime friends who have known each other for more than 10 years, but they had a falling out over a young woman several months before the Flores stabbing.
<
They reconnected at the party, and Benoit admitted they spoke both before and after he stabbed Flores. Both defendants said they did not talk about Flores or the stabbing, but instead were catching up after not speaking for five months.
<
“Spencer wasn’t with me” during the stabbing of Flores, Benoit said. “As far as I know, Spencer didn’t know I stabbed Cody Flores.”
Smith denies involvement, knowledge
<
Smith’s testimony started Feb. 27. He said he arrived at the party separately from Benoit. Flores was there at the same time, and Smith said Flores helped set up for the party and generally wasn’t causing any problems.
<
“I did not see him threaten anybody,” Smith said.
<
At one point, Flores asked Smith to travel to San Jose with him in his car to bring a female friend home from the party. On the way there, Smith said Flores told him they were going to stop to buy some heroin. That caused Smith to become “paranoid,” and he texted Benoit to ask for his help. The text messages indicate he wanted Benoit to follow them in his truck, and said Smith thought Flores was trying to “set me up.”
<
Pandori asked Smith if he was paranoid because he was worried about Benoit finding out he was hanging out with Flores, even while Benoit (Smith’s “best friend,” in Pandori’s words) and Flores had an ongoing dispute. Smith said that is not why he was afraid, but it was rather because Flores was “quiet” on the ride to San Jose.
<
“I thought they were setting me up to get robbed, or possibly jumped,” Smith said.
<
However, their interaction remained peaceful and Smith and Flores returned to the Morgan Hill party together after dropping off their friend and buying heroin. Benoit did not reply to Smith’s text messages until after the danger perceived by Smith had passed, but the two talked again after they returned.
<
Smith added he never spoke to Benoit about the stabbing.
<
He also noted he was “pretty intoxicated” throughout the evening, having drunk liquor and beer, and smoked marijuana and heroin.
<
Pandori became visibly and audibly frustrated numerous times during both defendants’ testimonies and faulty memories, which he claimed contradicted their own earlier statements and those of other witnesses who testified.
Histories of violence
<
Other testimony dredged up past incidents of violence experienced by Benoit and Flores at different times in Morgan Hill, apparently unrelated to the May 31, 2015 stabbing.
<
In 2010, Benoit was a teenager when he saw his father stabbed numerous times outside a Morgan Hill apartment complex during an altercation with another man. Benoit’s older brother, James Benoit, testified in the Flores murder trial that this incident seemed to have changed Chase.
<
“After that, he seemed like he didn’t care about life anymore,” James Benoit said, adding that Chase’s temper would flare up more quickly. “He would snap really easily.”
<
James was staying with Chase Benoit in a trailer in north Morgan Hill at the time of the stabbing. But he testified that he didn’t know anything about the events surrounding Flores’ death.
<
Another northeast Morgan Hill resident, Cody Croul, testified about his past contacts with Flores and Smith, going back several years. He said in 2011, Flores drove up to his home while Croul and some friends were hanging out, and pursued another resident of the property with a baseball bat.
<
Flores was convicted of assault in relation to this incident, according to Benoit’s attorney, Daniel Olmos.
<
The Flores murder trial is expected to continue at least until the end of this week.
