In April, 2006, a boating tragedy happened on Clear Lake, which took the life of a passenger on a sailboat being operated in the dark without running lights. The skipper and the helmsman of the sailboat were both intoxicated. The other boat involved was a powerboat being operated with required lighting by Lake County Sheriff”s Chief Deputy Russ Perdock, who had not been drinking.
Let”s summarize. They were drunk, Perdock was not. They were operating illegally without running lights. Perdock was operating with all required lights.
These are facts supported by corroborating evidence; everything else that has been said on TV, or in letters, is based on scurrilous rumors or baseless allegations of an alleged conspiracy between the Lake County Sheriff, District Attorney, and the Sacramento Sheriff.
I am a retired California Highway Patrol Lieutenant whose career spanned 32 years, the last seven as Commander of the Clear Lake Area. I know a little about investigations, although admittedly, I never investigated a boat wreck (in the water). I have conducted and reviewed thousands of accident investigations, and the basics remain the same.
When attempting to determine fault in an accident, I always applied a few guidelines and asked a few questions regarding each driver involved. Let”s apply these principles to this case:
— Before he started, did each driver assure he was fit to operate the vehicle?
In the case of Dinius and Weber, the answer is an emphatic NO, as they were both tested after the accident and found to be well above the legal blood alcohol limits. In the case of Perdock, he was also tested and found to have no alcohol in his system.
— Was each driver operating the vehicle with reasonable caution?
In the case of Dinius and Weber, again the answer is NO. Evidence shows that they were operating the sailboat illegally without required running lights. I emphasized ?running lights” because one of the straws the conspiracy theorists are grasping at is that one or two out of dozens of witnesses claimed to have seen ?cabin lights” on the craft. ?Cabin lights” don”t count as a legal replacement for required red, green and white ?running lights”. Further, they probably wouldn”t be visible from all angles, so they are a non-factor.
Perdock is alleged to have been in violation of a “catch-all” federal boating law that requires an operator to be able to stop a boat at all times before hitting something. A similar law exists on the highway also, which, paraphrased, says you must drive at a speed which is reasonable at all times.
What is reasonable? Is it reasonable to expect a powerboat operator to drive 15 miles an hour on an open lake because there might be a log or something else in the water? Of course not. Otherwise, it would take all night to return home from Konocti Harbor or from the 4th of July fireworks.
Some people want the law rigidly applied to Perdock. Almost everyone in Lake County has, at one time, driven their vehicle at a safe speed, maybe a little over the speed limit, and been surprised by a deer or other animal suddenly appearing in their path. Under the strict interpretation of this law, everyone who ever hit an animal should be prosecuted because they didn”t anticipate the unexpected at all times?
Should Perdock be prosecuted for manslaughter because he was going faster than you think he should and a drunk in an invisible sailboat appeared in his path?
Would you accept the same prosecution if you were driving on an open road at night and suddenly a drunk driver with no lights appeared in front of your vehicle and someone is killed in the accident? Yet, some people want to prosecute Perdock because he ran into the same scenario in a boat on Clear Lake.
— Finally, what could each driver reasonably expect the other driver to do?
With regard to Dinius and Weber, should they have reasonably expected a powerboat to be on the lake at that time? Of course they should. Above 40 miles per hour? Perhaps not so common, but not unusual.
Most boaters have, at one time or another, traveled across the lake at night at cruising speed. Therefore it is reasonable for Dinius and Weber to expect it might occur. On the other hand, I believe Perdock certainly had a reasonable expectation that he would not encounter a drunken operator of a sailboat with no lights in the middle of the lake.
The criminal/civil justice system is working fine in this case. The person who proximately caused the accident is being prosecuted in criminal court for the death, and a civil trial will be held to assign percentages of fault to all parties involved. I say let the system work.
The tragedy of April 2006 has been compounded by the witch-hunt being perpetrated on Russ Perdock, just because he is a cop. If he were a carpenter, or a grocery clerk, this would not be news. Conspiracy theorists, bolstered by the sensationalistic, ratings-driven reporting by a San Francisco television station, have engaged in a feeding frenzy attempting to cast doubts on the investigation.
The loss of any life in an accident is always a tragic loss. But now, it seems, the next loser is Russ Perdock, a fine, honorable man who has devoted his life to serving the very community that is now standing quietly while outside interests are vilifying him, attempting to destroy his good name and career. Come on, Lake County, stand up for one of your own.
Editor”s Note: Steve Davis is a Lakeport resident and retired commander of the California Highway Patrol. Guest Commentaries are the opinions of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lake County Record-Bee or www.record-bee.com.
