LAKE COUNTY — After three days in court, a preliminary hearing for Carmichael resident Bismarck Dinius was continued to June 10 after Dinius waived his right to a continuous preliminary hearing.
Chief Deputy Russell Perdock of the Lake County Sheriff”s Department took the witness stand briefly Thursday afternoon during the preliminary hearing, long enough to contradict testimony given by Deputy James Beland.
Beland testified earlier Thursday that he took Perdock to Redbud Community Hospital to obtain a blood sample after Perdock”s powerboat hit a sailboat on the night of April 29, 2006, killing Willows resident Lynn Thornton, one of the sailboat”s passengers. Dinius, the man at the sailboat”s tiller at the time of the accident, is charged with vehicular manslaughter involving a vessel and boating under the influence of alcohol.
“I”m not sure what I did with him (Perdock),” Beland said on the stand. He said Perdock”s blood sample was sealed inside a California Department of Justice envelope, and then sealed inside a California Department of Justice box. Beland said he put the box in his car, took Perdock home and then took the blood sample to the Lower Lake sheriff”s substation.
Beland estimated it took him an hour to get the blood sample from the hospital to the substation. The hospital and substation are “a couple blocks” apart, according to Beland.
Perdock testified that he was “certain” that Beland did not drive him home, and that he didn”t see Beland again that night after the deputy left with the blood sample.
Dinius” defense attorney Victor Haltom called engineer William Chilcott of the Grass Valley firm Marine Testing Co. to the stand. Chilcott testified that the sailboat”s stern light was on at the time of the collision, based on his analysis of the light bulb”s filament after the accident.
Also on the stand was marine accident reconstruction instructor Wes Dodd, who said Perdock should have been charged with reckless and negligent operation because he violated six Rules of the Road under Title 14 of state law. Dodd said Perdock did not have a lookout on his boat, drove at an unsafe speed for the dark conditions, did not avoid risk of collision, did not take proper action to avoid a collision, overtook the sailboat and did not give the sailboat the right of way.
“I did not make the charging decision ? I just got this case in February. My job is to evaluate the evidence as it is and determine if we can go forward,” Deputy District Attorney John Langan said outside the courtroom.
If Dinius could have predicted and avoided the accident, Langan said he is liable for Thornton”s death. If the accident was unforeseeable, Dinius cannot be held liable.
“The issue is whether or not Mr. Dinius committed a negligent act or omission while operating the boat, and whether that act caused the death of Ms. Thornton,” Langan said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
