Boat Crash Settlement

The I-Team has learned that a civil settlement was reached quietly last month in the fatal boat crash on Clear Lake. As we first reported last summer, Lake County Chief Deputy Sheriff Russell Perdock was driving his speedboat at least 40 miles an hour at night, when it slammed into a sailboat.

Lynn Thornton of Willows died in the crash and Bismarck Dinius, the man who happened to be steering the sailboat at the time, now faces a manslaughter charge. Prosecutors argue the sailboat’s lights were off at the time, so Dinius is responsible for what happened. The defense has experts and witnesses who say the lights were on.

All the parties threatened to sue each other, but we now know how it all turned out. Four insurance policies have been pooled – $300,000 from Bismarck Dinius’ policy; $300,000 from Russell Perdock’s policy; $100,000 from Mark Weber’s policy – he’s the sailboat owner and Thornton’s fiancee’; and $100,000 from James Walker’s policy – the lookout on the power boat. The bulk of the money, $760,000, is going to Lynn Thornton’s son who is now twenty-two years-old. Mark Weber receives $18,000. Bismarck Dinius –
$13,000. Russell Perdock gets nothing.

That highlights the basic point of our reports – didn’t Russell Perdock play a role in what happened? If prosecutors charged Dinius, why didn’t they charge Perdock, as well? Dinius and his attorney accuse prosecutors of protecting one of their own.

By the way, the local paper, the Lake County Record Bee, ran an on-line poll in June: "Should Perdock also be on trial with Dinius?" At the time of this blog, 883 of 1017 respondents answered "yes".

Comments

[lynn]

I'm glad to hear Perdock didn't get any compensation in this horrible accident.
And I hope Dinius isn't assigned the same judge who as a DA prosecuted the wrong boat driver years ago and refused to prosecute the driver responsible in the deaths of 3.

Lastly, clearly the SO office failed to follow policy, procedures- guidelines set up by the state. (US) Anytime an officer is involved whether on/off duty (the DA is called)and another agency notified to investigated this accident.
Lake County now has to acknowledge policy and procedures aren't always followed here,like other cities, counties, or states.

[dennis]

I thought the Sacramento County Sheriff's office was called in to investigate. Of course Sheriff Mitchell was a deputy for Sacramento many years ago.

This is a very tragic accident. I worked under both Perdock and Mitchell as a Lake County deputy 18 years ago. Back then both were extremely professional, to a fault if that's possible, and both had a great deal of integrity. It saddens me to think that power may have corrupted them.

[I Was There]

First of all, Dennis, don't assume that what you read in the media is the truth, because it is not. Perdock is still the same as he was back then.
And you are correct about them calling in other agencies as soon as possible to investigate. Including the California State Dept. of Justice and the Sacramento Co. SO. Do you even think it is possible that the Sac. Co. SO would not investigate this properly because Sheriff Mitchell worked for them, what, 18 or 20 years ago?
As far as the truth goes, Mr. Noyes does not necessarily lie, he just doesn't tell the whole truth in any of his reports. He conveniently, again, leaves out the FACT that Dinius' blood alcohol, 2 and 1/2 hours after the crash was still .12%.
Also, while it is true that there was a poll on the Record Bee's site, it was posted by an individual reader and it is not at all a true representation of the community. To test things I personally posted, probably more that 10 times myself, and it took every vote I submitted.
I find it quite interesting that Mr. Noyes has results of the settlement, even before Perdock does. Perhaps, Dinius and Weber have Mr. Noyes in their back pocket?...
As a person who was in the courtroom for the Preliminary Hearing, it was very clear that Mr. Noyes was a part of the defense, joking and lauging with the defense attorney and Dinius. He was certainly not an unbiased reporter.
Lastly, every penny that Weber and Dinius receive is a penny that Mr. Thornton does not receive even though he is the one that lost his mother, at the hands of Weber and Dinius. There was only so much money on the table from the insurance companies.

[Cal25Racer]

Not sure what agencies exist in the state where the accident occurred, but in Maryland, the State Natural Resources Police (Marine Division) would be required to perform an independent investigation. Their officers are trained in Maritime law enforcement. What exactly does a local sheriff's office know about marine accident investigation?

It sounds to me like the police officer involved was just careless and is grasping at straws to cover it up.

[I Was There]

Cal25Racer,
That's the problem. How can you possibly make a judgment in this case when you know none of the facts? Mr. Noyes doesn't mention in his report that both Dinius and Weber were well over the legal limit for Blood Alcohol and that there were NINE eye witnesses to the crash, who say there were NO lights on the sailboat. The witnesses Mr. Noyes is referring to are a paid "expert" witness who examined the lights from the sailboat, and a person who saw the sailboat leave the dock approximately 2 hours before the collision and said it's lights were on. Not really pertinent evidence as he was in bed at the time of the collision and did not see it, obviously.
And as far as the sheriff's office invesigating the accident, that is part of their duties and they are well trained in it. In case you are not aware, we live on the largest natural lake in California. We obviously have a special division for these incidents.
The other fact Mr. Noyes leaves out is that the case was reviewed by the DA's office, the California State Department of Justice, (who also had an expert, not paid by the defense or the prosecution, to examine the lights and said they were off at the time of the collision), and lastly they brought in the Sacramento Sheriff's Department. All found that the case was handled appropriately.
And then Mr. Dinius had a preliminary hearing and a judge found that there was enough evidence to hold him for trial, which should take place some time in January.

*** NOTE FROM DAN NOYES: Here we go again. "I Was There" has, in the past, mischaracterized the case and the action from court. And, he/she's doing it again. If you want the complete story, reread our coverage over the past year. ***

[A_Boater]

"there were NINE eye witnesses to the crash, who say there were NO lights on the sailboat. "

Good grief, PCA/IWT. There you go lying again. You have consistently and persistently spread misinformation and LIES about this case from the beginning.

Everyone agrees that the cabin lights were illuminated on the sailboat, so to say that there were "no lights" is simply a lie.

I've pointed this out to you many many times, yet you continue to spew your lies in public forums.

You have no credibility whatsoever.

[A_Boater]

Regarding the "outside" investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff's office, the invistigator, Lt. Charles Slabaugh , was directed by the Lake County Sheriff's office NOT to interview any witnesses. How was this an "independent" investigation if Lake County is calling the shots and telling him that he can't interview any witnesses?

I'm wondering if anyone has reviewed the paperwork Mitchell submitted to the California DOJ
to see if it comports with the subsequent testimony of Slabaugh. Slabaugh testified under oath that he was under the direction of Lake County Sheriff's office throughout his investigation. Did Mitchell represent it this way to the DOJ?

[I Was There and Paying Close Attention]

*** NOTE FROM DAN NOYES: Here we go again. "I Was There" has, in the past, mischaracterized the case and the action from court. And, he/she's doing it again. If you want the complete story, reread our coverage over the past year. ***

"Mischaracterized the case"? That would be laughable if this wasn't such a trajedy. You would be the one micharacterizing the case, Mr. Noyes.
You say, "If you want the complete story, reread our coverage????" Because everyone knows you are telling the truth, right???????
It has been suggested on other blogs on ABC7 that perhaps Mr. Noyes does not like cops, or fireman or people of authority. Maybe people should read your other blogs before they go back and read your coverage of this story.
I have said before, if I know it to be a fact I say so. If it is my opinion I will say it is my opinion. I have mischaracterized nothing.

[A_Boater]

Yes, you have mischaracterized the case.

I don't know who you are, or what your agenda might be, but the unsupported assertions you have made are widely at variance with ALL the news coverage: ABC 7, The Record Bee, the Lake County News, Sailing World, etc.

Who should we believe? Half a dozen Credible news outlets who present more or less the same story and back it up with independently verifiable facts, or the ravings of an anonymous person on the internet who's been caught lying multiple times?

[I Was There and Paying Close Attention]

"there were NINE eye witnesses to the crash, who say there were NO lights on the sailboat. "

Good grief, PCA/IWT. There you go lying again. You have consistently and persistently spread misinformation and LIES about this case from the beginning.

Everyone agrees that the cabin lights were illuminated on the sailboat, so to say that there were "no lights" is simply a lie.

I've pointed this out to you many many times, yet you continue to spew your lies in public forums.

You have no credibility whatsoever.

A_Boater,

Sorry but now you are misquoting me and the NINE eye witnesses.
Let me say it slowly once agian. NINE people saw the boat crash, (you can try to change that anyway you want but that is the truth.) They were there that night, witnessed Perdock's boat hit something, which we all know was Weber's boat, and saw absolutely, NO lights on the sailboat. Yes it was determined later that the sailboat had at least one of its six cabin lights on, but no one who witnessed the accident, (NINE people) saw any lights on the sailboat at the time of the crash. That is the absolute truth. You know it and I know it.
As far as my credibility goes, I don't believe you would be a fair judge of that, as our opinion's on the case obviously differ. What I can say is that I live here, have lived here almost my entire life. I boat on the lake frequently. I have witnessed the activity on this lake both day and night. People boat at all rates of speed on this lake both night and day. Perdock testified he was going 35-40, people boat much faster than that at night on this lake every night. I have seen it many times. I also was in the courtroom for much of the hearing. I don't believe you were. You are going by what the media reports. And sorry to tell you, they do not report all of the information. They pick and choose what they think is important. I also have said that I am a friend of Perdock's. Not trying to hide that fact.
The bottom line of this trajedy? The facts that if Dinius and Weber who were well over the legal limit for alcohol consumption and operating a vessel, would have stayed on the dock, or at least turned on the NAVIGATION lights on the sailboat, you and I would have nothing to say to each other. Lynn Thornton would still be alive. And Dinius would not be on trial for manslaughter.
As far as credibility goes, what would make you credible? Oh, I know, you read it in the paper, on the internet or in a sailors forum. All, definitely the absolute truth, huh? From your post it appears you are in Ann Arbor Michigan.

[A_Boater]

How am I misquoting you? It's a direct quote, and anyone can scroll up and see for themselves that it's what you wrote.

You just undermine your own credibility further by making these self-evidently false accusations.

As for my own credibility, that's not the issue here; I'm not asking anyone to believe anything that can't be independently verified. And I'm not accusing Dan Noyes of participating in some sort of media conspiracy. You're the one making wild accusations without providing any evidence to back it up.

BTW, the fact that it "has been suggested on other blogs" that "Mr. Noyes does not like cops, or fireman or people of authority" is not evidence of anything other than perhaps paranoia on the part of those posters.

[I Was There and Paying Close Attention]

A_Boater,
You know what, you are right it was a direct quote. I should have said a misrepresentation. My mistake. I guess that would certainly undermine my credibility, now wouldn't it?
You certainly have tried to get people to believe what you have to say, so your credibility would be an issue.
Apparently you ran out of steam on the case itself, so you went on to butt kissing Mr. Noyes. Sorry, but as I said, I was in the court room. That in itself, gives me more credibility than you have. I witnessed Mr. Noyes myself and while I cannot say for a fact that he does not like cops, fireman or people of authority, it does appear that way to me. Maybe he just prefers drunk sailors.
And no, you were not accusing Mr. Noyes of participating in a media conspiracy. You have, however, suggested that Perdock and the California State Department of Justice, Lake Co. SO and Sac. Co. SO, and the District Attorney's office, oh, and the Attorney General's office have participated in a conspiracy/coverup.
And lastly, because Mr. Noyes said it, is not evidence of anything either. What I base my information on is what I see in court, or read in the Depositions, (under oath), of the witnesses to the crash. Mr. Noyes has had access to those same Depositions, but has only quoted things that lead the people to believe the case the way he sees it.
While I believe he has a right to his opinion, as do you and I, he has a legal, or at least moral, obligation to report the unbiased facts. I do not believe he has done that in this case.

[A_Boater]

Ok then, let's review. None of the numbered items below should be very controversial:

1) Sheriff Mitchell and everyone in his employ has a conflict of interest in this case.

2) As such, they should have recused themselves from the investigation and brought in an independent agency.

3) While the presence of Lt. Charles Slabaugh of the Sacremento County Sheriff's office lends the appearance of an independent review, according to his sworn testimony the investigation was still under the direct control of Rod Mitchell.

4) Mitchell *may* have misrepresented the role of Slabaugh in his report to the DOJ

5) The DOJ merely reviewed the paperwork provided by Mitchell; it did not do any investigation itself.

So, I don't think that there was a "conspiracy" between the Calif. DOJ and the two county agencies. Instead, Mitchell opted to retain control of the investigation and the guy from Sacramento was too weak to assert any independence. The DOJ relied entirely on information provided by Mitchell.

You don't need to posit a conspiracy here, just a Sheriff who's taking extra steps to protect one of his own, and a bunch of bureaucrats who aren't willing to upset the apple cart.

Add in a DA with poor judgment, and we've arrived at the present situation where the wrong guy is being charged with manslaughter. It's obvious to anyone with much boating experience who was at fault in this incident.

[dennis]

I was there, Are you or were you a duputy, or just a friend of Russ? I'm just curiuous. I'm wondering if I met you in 1990 when I was working there.

I don't have anything against Dan Noise personaly, however I do believe and know that the media is not as objective as it should be. Everything, it seems, is driven by money, ratings, etc.

[Jay]

Police or civilian, you're asking for trouble if you are moving 30-40 mph on a darkened lake.

[I Was There and Paying Close Attention]

I was there, Are you or were you a duputy, or just a friend of Russ? I'm just curiuous. I'm wondering if I met you in 1990 when I was working there.

I don't have anything against Dan Noise personaly, however I do believe and know that the media is not as objective as it should be. Everything, it seems, is driven by money, ratings, etc.

Posted by: dennis | September 22, 2008 at 03:14 PM

Dennis,
I am a friend of Perdock's. Not in law enforcemet. I have known him for a long time.
He is still as you remember him. He volunteers in his community and for his children at school.
You are correct about the media, in my opinion. I have said all along, if Russ was not a cop this story would have faded away. We had a collision on the lake a few months back. Broad daylight. Hit the paper the first day and never heard another thing about it even though apparently one boat went over another. Sound familiar? The diffenece? You guest it. No cop involved. I don't even know what the outcome was.
Please just keep in mind that there are a lot of fact in this case that are not being covered by the press. The whole truth will come out at the trial. The problem will be that Mr. Noyes will be there and do the same thing he has done since the beginning. Just report the points that will sell news for ABC7. The jury will decide Dinius' innocence or guilt, not the media.

[quiet_observer]

Let us postpone blame for a couple paragraphs...

Suppose there was a sober person on the sailboat at the helm. The night was reported as being without wind.

Being a responsible, sober, sailor, how could a sailor sitting at the helm avoid a powerboat going 40mph?

Now let's look at blame. The individual sitting at the helm of the sailboat is charged with manslaughter. He he also being charged with helplessness?

If the person at the helm had started the motor and moved the sailboat, and the accident *still* occurred, who would be to blame?

Should it be standard practice that when a motorboat traveling a 40mph approaches a sailboat that the sailboat perform evasive actions? Should I be concerned the next time I'm on the sidewalk of Van Ness in SF... a car might drive up onto the sidewalk, and I could cause an accident as the car runs me down? What if I'm on my bicycle on the sidewalk, does that change who is at fault? the pedestrian? the bicyclist? the motorist?

I've watched this issue with Lake County for awhile now. It makes me fear visiting that county as it seems like a very corrupt community. How can Lake County citizens allow such an absurd incident continue for so long?

My feelings go out to the Thronton family and friends. Even though a life is a very high price to pay, Lynn's death and subsequent accident publicity will go a long way to exposing corruption.

[xymotic]

I have to agree with the previous poster.

If you accept the accusations as fact, Say Dinius was unconscious Drunk. It was a black hulled boat on a moonless night.

The cause of the wreck is still Perdock's excessive speed and failure to keep a proper watch.

If 'boats go 40 at night all the time' then that says to me that the county is negligent for routinely allowing unsafe activity on that lake, not that the activity is suddenly safe.

[quiet_observer]

BTW, I grew up as a power-boater. Zipping across a glass-smooth lake when nobody else is around sounds like a lot of fun. Waterskiing and jetskiing are excellent activities as well.

Currently, I'm into sailing... primarily because I live near SF Bay, one of the best sailing venues in the world. Besides, waterskiing on the Bay is a little tough.

I enjoy both sail and power boating. This issue has a lot of "Us" vs. "Them" that is really clouding the issue. It is important that the sailing crowd not play the "oh, we are helpless victims" card. On the flip side, the power-boaters need to accept that blazing across a lake at high speed at night is (while fun) a life-threatening reckless activity.

Together, the sailors and the power-boaters need to band together and call this incident what it really is: corruption.

[Alice Quinn Welton]

I will tell you that that is not ALL the Lake County Law Enforcement is hiding. Child porn by Russ Perdock's good buddy Paul Simpson. I posted this before and my comment was removed. They will not get away with this. John Hopkins the DA knows about this and it has been going on for a long time. They have also ties to the building officials. Who ever bites into the porn they control. Whoever refuses it they eliminate.
The corruption is wide spread and that is why 99.3% of the population questioned say that Perdock is guilty. Simpson it is well known is in to the porn, but what they don't know about is the child porn. These children of porn contract STD's and are dumped. No one will take them to the doctor because they would be implicated... so the children of porn die a horrible death or live a life of shame... and confusion.
It has been going on in Lake County for a long time.

[SF Guy]

I haven't looked at this page in a while. I too was there that night I've posted about it many times.

By the way an almost identical accident to this one took place this past week up in Washington State on Lake Washington. Only the sailboat was anchored and the speed boat as in this case struck them at an excessive speed killing a school teacher who was aboard the sailboat.

I don't really care who did what - or if a light was on etc - it comes down to a vehicle moving to fast for the given conditions and visablity - it collided with another object in this case a sailboat. A person was killed as a result. You need to be a complete moron to think that operating any vehicle at speeds beyond the visibility and manuverablity of the vehicle.

By the way another case of a power boat operating at speed and killing two people happend last month. Large power boat ran over a smaller power boat killing the two people on board. The large power boat operator is facing charges and also claims he never knew he hit them hence the reason why he didn't stop and had to be tracked down.

[Idon84]

Yet another excessively speeding power boat hits another killing one just on Monday here in WA. Going to fast on a dark lake lights or not doesn't seem to be a safe way of travel. Rules of the sea are different than rules of the road. Travel only as fast as you can see to stop in time, and keep a proper look out. If you were doing 5mph instead of 40 mph chances are you would have seen the boat lights or not. Even then if you hit them at 5mph my guess is Lynn would still be around. Perdock should not have been traveling that fast. PERIOD.

"Lights were not on and they were drunk" is TOTALLY IGNORING THE SAFE SPEED BOATING RULE and tries to pass blame! Perdock & this investigation is clearly slanted.

[Chesapeake Boater]

A letter to Lake County's Sheriff's Department sent on October 3, 2008

Lt. Dave Garzoli:

After reading the front story of the Boat U.S Seaworthy magazine (October 2008) about the boating accident between Officer Perdock and Mr. Dinius I have decided to contribute $100.00 toward Mr. Dinius's defense fund.

With the facts stated, It seems a pretty poor cover up by your department in the protection of your fellow officer. Having several friends in law enforcement, I understand that there is an unwritten code that officers need to protect themselves first, something like a brotherhood.

But this has gone way to far. It makes feel less respectful of police officers in general. What about the Code of Ethics that you are sworn to uphold. Did that go out the window?

I can only hope that real justice will prevail and a non-tainted judge will at a minimum split the the responsibility for this accident more fairly than "your" department investigation cared to do.

[j l moose]

to i was there are you just an idiot or what. do you think these people were just out on the lake just sitting in the dark now i want you to think about how stupid your statement is yes lets all go out on my very nice saliboat have some drinks oh but i dont have any working lights on my boat you must have graduated at top of your sixth grade class
please grab a clue

[SF Guy]

Chesapeake Boater

This sailboat had been racing all day as was I and my wife on our boat. We were asked if we wanted to either join them or take our boat out with them for a short "star cruise" this is a lake up away from major cities and it was a very dark clear night. Stars were quite visible. We may have considered going out but our hosts for the night were headed home and we had no idea where we were going so we passed on the offer and left. We were then passed by the emergency vehicles headed to the crash scene.

If I had gone with them chances are me who was sober would have been at that helm or possibly killed. Had my wife and I gone out in our smaller boat Pedrock could have easily cut us in half and dissapeared into the night with little to no witnesses - Yes we have working lights -its a required item in the race rules for this event.

I don't care if your drunk - stupid - blind are all three if you can't see where your going and can't turn or stop for objects that may appear in your way - your going to fast regardless if its a sailboat - log - rock - someone's kids floating in a tube some poor shmuck that had a engine failure dead battery etc. This lake is surrounded by water front homes especially in the area of the accident we aren't talking about a large body of water like the Chesapeake.