An Appalling Example of California Justice . . .

[Hiracer]

Those dirt balls.

They had me fooled, until now.

Absolute dirt balls. Completely missing any ethics or decency.

Hello Jerry Brown? Where are you?

Or was this your idea?

Thanks a lot bud.

[imagine2frolic]

Originally Posted by Hiracer

Those dirt balls.

They had me fooled, until now.

Absolute dirt balls. Completely missing any ethics or decency.

Hello Jerry Brown? Where are you?

Or was this your idea?

Thanks a lot bud.

That's the way the good ole boy system works. They take no prisoners when it comes to outsiders........i2f

[slomotion]

Yeah, I don't understand this at all. I thought the reason for dismissing the manslaughter charge was to render all the negative evidence about law enforcement, Perdock, and the DA's office irrelevant. But felony BUI requires you to prove (I think) that Dinius' conduct was the proximate cause of the accident/injuries. Pursuing that charge lets all the "bad" evidence back in.

[Hiracer]

Slo,

I agree. Causation is still in play. It makes no sense, other than the art of misdirection to get the media off their ass. But they clearly still have a bullseye on Dinius's forehead, and it's full speed ahead.

These guys are a real piece of work. I think they think they are immune, safe in their little kingdom.

And so far, I would say they are right.

Or maybe this is a game of chicken? DA is playing every last one of his cards before he folds.

I sure hope the media doesn't fade out now.

[slomotion]

The prosecution suddenly has 2 new experts and 116 pages of "new discovery":

Lake County News | California - Prosecution, defense argue final motions before Dinius trial begins

One of Hopkins' objections to a defense proposed jury view of the accident scene was:

“The defense wants to put jurors on a boat. We don't even know if that's going to scare some of those people to death,”

Well, if Perdock is gonna be cruising around nearby, they should be scared.

[slomotion]

You should never rely on press accounts of a trial. But, Hopkins tells the jury that the sailboat's lights were not on. AND THEN his first 2 witnesses testify that they saw the stern light on. The second witness says the cabin lights were on as well. The fourth witness says the power boat was going 40-50 mph.

Speed or light: Opening arguments, first witnesses in Dinius trial - www.record-bee.com

There is something to be said for presenting the bad evidence first, but a rear starboard quarter collision with a boat displaying a stern light? The fisherman testified that they didn't see a bow light, but given the angle of attack (the power boat flies over the sailboat taking out the mast), Perdock wouldn't have seen it even if it was on.

And yes, defense counsel told the jury that Webber will testify that it was his boat and he was running the show. So that issue is definitely in play.

[cburger]

At what point do the Feds get involved with this fiasco?

[sarafina]

Manslaughter Charge Dismissed in Boat Crash

Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins has formally dismissed the manslaughter charge against Bismarck Dinius. He still faces a felony boating under the influence and two misdemeanor BUI charges, associated with the crash that killed Lynn Thornton of Willows.

abc7news.com I-Team: Manslaughter Charge Dismissed in Boat Crash

[TaoJones]

Thanks for taking an interest in this case and posting to this thread, Sara. Unfortunately, your post only takes us back to posts #523-524 in this thread. Bismarck Dinius is very much still in legal jeopardy, and the ongoing current trial, if it results in a conviction on the BUI charge, still could put him in prison for some period of time (up to three years.)

Hopkins dismissal of the manslaughter charge was a public relations maneuver, designed to make people think the case had gone away. His hope was that the media and the public would also lose interest in the case, while Dinius is railroaded on the remaining charges.

Please don't fall for it.

TaoJones

[sarafina]

sorry, my bad for not reading back... We have friends up there.. one of whom is in the sheriff's department so we have been watching what happens with this...

And with all appropriate exceptions to Lake county residents reading this... it's all too typical of what we have seen of the 'scene' up there...

try being at a party that's half Berkeley liberal musicians and half county sheriff employees...

ugh... there is NO safe topic at that party!

[Hiracer]

The prosecution has rested its case against Dinius without calling Perdock as a witness.

Defense counsel apparently did not have Perdock under subpoena, expecting Perdock to be a witness for the prosecution and therefore available for cross examination.

It is not clear at this point whether Perdock will testify in the trial, albeit the judge has suggested to the DA that Perdock should be made available.

Interesting twist. Dirty move by the DA, and defense counsel has been caught more than a little flat footed. Defense counsel should have had Perdock's appearance required by subpoena.

Testimony to resume today.

If Perdock is served with a subpoena in time, and if he has any brains at all, he will invoke the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

Lake County News | California - Prosecution rests in sailboat case; district attorney doesn't call Perdock

More here on the first day of testamony. http://lakeconews.com/content/view/9813/764/

Increduously, one of the expert witnesses for the prosecution had prepared reports wherein Perdock was listed as the victim:

Quote:

After the jury was allowed to leave for lunch, Haltom asked Byrne to let him question Baxter about the “victim” and “suspect” notations on his report.

He said the report listed Dinius as the suspect and Perdock as the victim. “That's clearly relevant to a central theme of this case, that this is a slanted investigation designed to deflect blame away from Russell Perdock,” Haltom said, adding that it's absurd to list Perdock as the victim when it's Thornton who died.

Hopkins said in other places of the report a victim and suspect aren't listed. He argued that the issue wasn't relevant. Byrne said he would allow Haltom to ask the question but it needed the relevant foundation.

[slomotion]

In Florida you can subpoena law enforcement personnel by delivering a subpoena to the person in charge at their duty station. But that's probably only for testimony in connection with their official duties. In any case, it sounds like the judge is going to require Hopkins to make Perdock available.

Some other items of interest:

1. Deputy Beland and the phlebotomist BOTH claim to have written the wrong date for Perdock’s blood sample.

2. The Webber and Dinius samples were taken directly from the hospital to the Sheriff’s Dept. headquarters. Perdock’s was instead taken to a substation where all sworn personnel have access. It was not moved to headquarters until the afternoon following the collision - the same date that Beland and the phlebotomist ‘erroneously’ wrote down for the date Perdock’s sample was drawn.

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/9727/764/

3. Deputy Wells towed the sailboat to Braito’s marina, but it was left unsecured for 7 hours until later that morning.

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/9742/764/

[Hiracer]

Slo,

Isn't Perdock on paid leave right now? He's got nothing else to do.

If he's not available to testify, well, . . . why would I not be surprised?

. . .

Perdock's blood test stinks to high heavens. I hope the defense has credible witnesses that Perdock was at the bar and drinking alcohol before the crash, thus 'proving' that Perdock's blood tests were not taken that night or else doctored in some fashion.

These guys are not only dirty; they are sloppy about it.

[Hiracer]

Rumors are floating around that Perdock has been or is about to be let go by the Sheriff's department.
abc7news.com I-Team

Also, there is some speculation that the DA didn't call Perdock as a witness because Perdock was going to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Perdock is currently the subject of an investigation (by personnel from a neighboring county) possibly on account of Perdock misrepresenting his whereabouts before the crash. Seems his presence at the bar before the crash and him then lying about it is becoming a wee bit of a problem.

The investigation is supposed to be completed August 15, 2009.

Perdock is to be called as a hostile witness by defense today. Going to be interesting to hear what he says. Pleading the Fifth is not going to help the DA's case at all.

Funny, Perdock is really not in a position to piss off the DA, given what the DA is trying to do for him. What a dance those two must be doing.

Also, turns out Perdock has been on medical leave from his job, but no information has been provided about his medical condition.

[Hiracer]

If the investigation concludes that Perdock was at the bar before the accident and lied about it, I can't see how the DA can continue the case against Dinius.

. . .

More:

LAKEPORT, CA (KGO) -- A lawyer for former Lake County Chief Deputy Sheriff Russell Perdock confirms in a brief filed today that Perdock is the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation for misconduct.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...eam&id=6954610

No one knows at this time exactly what the alleged misconduct is.

I think Perdock has no choice but to take the Fifth today at some point.