San Luis Obispo
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Susan Flores and boyfriend Mike McConville have suffered severe
emotional distress and lost income because of Dennis Mahon's
investigations into the disappearance of former Cal Poly student
Kristin Smart, court documents filed this week claim.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in San Luis Obispo County Superior
Court, asks for punitive damages. It states the actions taken by
Smart's parents, Denise and Stan Smart, and Dennis Mahon, a family
friend, "were undertaken with malice, fraud, and oppression" and with
intent to harm.
Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old freshman, disappeared after a Memorial
Day weekend party in 1996. Susan Flores' son, Paul, was the last person
seen with Smart.
Mahon operates a Web site, www.sonofsusan.com,
that publishes the Floreses' addresses and tracks Paul Flores any time
he moves to a new residence. The site also includes information about
Smart's disappearance.
In May, Mahon was sentenced to 40 days in jail for harassing the
Flores family in violation of a restraining order they have against him.
Mahon's attorney, Okorie Okorocha, called the complaint filed this week "the height of frivolous."
"This is just to harass the Smarts," he said.
Okorocha did confirm a few points in the complaint, including that
Mahon had organized and promoted a rally for 3,000 people with shovels
to dig up Susan Flores' back yard in Arroyo Grande.
Jeffry Radding, McConville and Flores' attorney, declined comment Thursday.
