An Appalling Example of California Justice . . .

[sabray]

And he should.
Of course his claim would hold better merit if the post mortem shots didn't have wine and booze bottles floating about. there is a little issue of sobriety aboard. I agree the prosecution went stupid but A little temperance on the water may have gone a long way. Sadly people died as a result of poor choices and bad seamanship.

[Unicorn Dreams]

I still don'r have any respect for any employer that would fire any employee for having to go to court to defend themselves.
I've put them on a leave of absense and take them back when court is over, if I had to, woukd hire a temporary in the between time.
SORRY A## BOSS, and LAW ENFORCEMENT, DEFINITELY....

[sabray]

He has a history of alcohol related offenses. maybe they had enough. the whole thing sucks especially the people who didn't survive.

[TaoJones]

There was only one person killed. Lynn Thornton, a just-retired investigator for the State of California, died in the running-down of the sailboat by a carelessly-driven speedboat doing at least 45mph on a dark moonless night.

For more on Lynn Thornton, go to:

abc7news.com I-Team: Remembering Lynn Thornton

TaoJones

[AquatiCat]

Wonderful follow-up; Lynn seems like a lovely woman. Her brother wrote an open letter in January 2010 which got a huge response: there's apparently a revolution brewing in Lake County. More power to 'em: Lake County News | California - Thomsen: Open letter to Sheriff Mitchell regarding Lynn Thornton

And as for bottles floating in the water, no offense, but the sailboat's hull was breached in a big way at the impact site; if someone blew open our boat right at the liquor locker, there would be bottles floating all over the place, too. Think instead of what a perfectly sober helmsman in light air (making less than two kts) could possibly do: the powerboat slammed into the sailboat in the aft starboard quarter and wound up soaring OVER the sailboat and landing in the water ahead and to port of her. No amount of watchful piloting could have done much with that kind of incoming speed (in excess of 40 mph) and a driver who was night-blind (it was a moonless night, the deputy required prescription glasses for night driving and he was by his own account not wearing glasses at the time of the crash - his wife at the time confirmed that he suffered from night-blindness). I agree that it's bad to drink and boat, but it's far worse to operate a powerboat at speed at night with insufficient visibility and worse yet after visiting a bar (and it's still worse to construct a timeline that leaves out any mention of the bar -- go read the ABC news local coverage, it's impressive).

[Dave the Canuck]

Tune in to KPFZ 88.1 FM on Saturday February 6th at 5 PM...
written by herb, January 27, 2010

...when Sheriff Rodney Mitchell and challenger, Deputy Francisco Rivero will participate in a live, on the air, 2 hour debate. Phone lines will be open at (707)263-3435 so that listeners can ask both men questions.

This should have been interesting. Did anyone catch it?

[Hiracer]

Seems like there are some serious fault lines in the Lake County Sheriff's department now that the Sheriff is in a contested reelection campaign.

Lake County News | California - State leads investigation of sheriff's deputy alleged to have taken reports, data

[Hiracer]

Perdock has been fired, for unknown reasons.

Lake County News | California - Sheriff's captain involved in off-duty boat crash terminated from employment

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by Hiracer

Perdock has been fired, for unknown reasons.

All I want to know is whether he gets to keep his pension benefits.

[Hiracer]

Good question. I suspect those vesting rights are independent of reasons for termination. But I really don't know.

[TaoJones]

I can't get the link to Lake County News to load - here's another link to a brief take on the story: Russell Perdock Gets Fired

TaoJones

EDIT: Hiracer's link to the Lake County News story is now opening - the problem was probably a case of too many people trying to open the story at the same time.

[TaoJones]

From today's 'Lectronic Latitude, comes word that what goes around, does indeed come around:

* * *

"Hopkins is History

"June 9, 2010 – Lake County

" 'Yes We Can' was a rallying cry in the '08 presidential campaign, and one that was embraced by voters in yesterday's Lake County primary elections. Incumbent District Attorney Jon E. Hopkins — the man who decided to prosecute sailor Bismarck Dinius instead of Deputy Sheriff Russell Perdock in the '06 boating death of Lynn Thornton — was soundly ousted from a spot on November's general election ballot by Don Anderson and Doug Rhoades."

* * *

To read the entire story, go to:

Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude (scroll down to Hopkins Is History)

TaoJones

[Hiracer]

Amen.

Thanks for the post, TaoJones.

[Hiracer]

Originally Posted by Hiracer

Perdock has been fired, for unknown reasons.

Lake County News | California - Sheriff's captain involved in off-duty boat crash terminated from employment

Originally Posted by Hiracer

The report contains a copy of a blood test for Perdock, referencing an "offense date" of 4/30/2006.

It notes a positive test for opiates. Page 23 of the pdf document.

Always wondered if there was a connection here.

[TaoJones]

John, can you provide a link to the .pdf document your post mentions in the second quote. I would very much like to read it.

The inference is that Perdock was high on some substance from the opium class of drugs on the night he caused the death of Lynn Thornton. Opiates are characterized by drowsiness and a dulling of the senses. This, I take it, is in addition to whatever he had been drinking earlier in the evening when he was observed in a waterfront bar.

That, in my view, is huge.

TaoJones