Boat Crash Update

Perdock Reassigned

The I-Team has learned that the number two official in the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Russell Perdock, has just been reassigned from Enforcement Branch Director to Logistics Section Chief. What this means is that Perdock is no longer in charge of all patrol officers. One of my sources inside the department tells me Perdock's "being taken off the front lines. He's not happy about it. My guess is they're trying to hide Perdock with all these people coming out saying he was drinking and racing his boat."

Boat Crash Case Dismissed?

Take a look at the timeline Lake County Sheriff's Captain Russell Perdock gave investigators from the District Attorney's Office, during an interview on April 27, 2009. He writes he was cleaning his boat at home and finally left the dock at 8:50pm the night of the crash. But, as we told you last night, five witnesses report seeing him at Konocti Harbor's outdoor bar between 6pm and 9pm, and that jives with what Perdock's ex-wife, Donna, told me today. She said he left "6-6:30, right around there, probably." Dan: "It wasn't 8 o'clock at night?" Donna: "No, no." Dan: "Are you sure about that?" Donna: "I'm pretty positive about that, yes."

The prosecution turned over 110 pages of discovery on the day the trial was supposed to start; some documents are three years old.

Twittering from Boat Crash Hearing

Here's what I twittered today from Lake County Superior Court (posting this at 2:30pm)-- I'll have the complete story on the news at 6 and here at abc7news.com:

Long drive to fatal boat crash hearing in lakeport. I'll tweet from court starting at 9am
about 6 hours ago from mobile web

Court's in session. The victim, Lynn Thornton's son is here supporting defendant.
about 5 hours ago from mobile web

Did Lake County Sheriff's Official Lie?

This is the motion filed by the Lake County District Attorney's Office in the fatal boat crash on Clear Lake. Three years after the accident and two full years since Bismarck Dinius was charged with manslaughter and boating under the influence, prosecutors want a delay. They say they've just received new information from witnesses that Lake County Sheriff's Captain Russell Perdock was spotted at Konocti Harbor's outdoor bar in the hours before the crash.

Emmy for I-Team's Diver Investigation

The ABC 7 I-Team has won an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, San Francisco/Northern California Chapter for our investigation from last year into the deaths of two state divers in the California aqueduct. The Academy recognized Dan Noyes, Investigative Reporter; Beth Rimbey, Producer; and Harvey Weinman, Editor.

Keeping Safe on Muni

The ABC 7 I-Team picks up our long-running investigation into Muni and the conditions aboard city buses. We've learned that the last three months of 2008 saw a spike in violent crime on the buses, and we obtained surveillance video from that same period.

CA's Biggest Pot Doc

This is the diagnostic sheet from Medicann, the largest chain of medical marijuana clinics in California. Dr. Jean Talleyrand says he’s grossed more than ten million dollars in less than five years, authorizing patients to smoke marijuana and take a look at the reasons.