LAKE COUNTY ? An effort by the defense to reduce felony vehicular manslaughter charges against Carmichael resident Bismarck Dinius will continue in Lake County Superior Court Friday afternoon.
Dinius piloted a friend”s sailboat the night of April 29, 2006, when he was involved in accident with Lake County Sheriff”s Office Capt. Russell Perdock”s powerboat.
Dinius is charged with vehicular manslaughter involving a vessel, for the death of Willows resident Lynn Thornton, who was a passenger on the sailboat. He also faces a charge of boating under the influence of alcohol.
Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Michael Byrne will hear two motions filed by Dinius” defense attorney, Victor. The first is a request to set aside the information, in which Haltom will ask Byrne to review a previous denial of the motion by Lake County Superior Court Judge Richard Martin.
Lake County Deputy District Attorney John Langan said the motion was denied in December “because the judge found probable cause to find that the defendant committed the offenses alleged.”
Haltom said he understood that the motion was denied because not enough information was available at the time. He renewed the motion in February. Martin denied it, saying the time to reduce the charges had passed.
The second motion is to obtain additional information from the Lake County District Attorney”s Office, including supplemental police reports Haltom alleged were missing.
Langan, who is prosecuting Dinius, said he was away from the office on personal matters and was reviewing the motions on Tuesday. He said he didn”t know which police reports were alleged missing, but said he hoped to resolve the matter Friday.
Haltom said he”s also requesting information from the Lake County District Attorney”s Office about the circumstances surrounding former LCSO deputy James Beland”s departure from the agency.
Langan said he had no comment on the circumstances surrounding Beland”s departure from the LCSO.
Capt. Jim Bauman of the LCSO confirmed that Beland is no longer employed with the agency. He said the office had no further comment on the case.
“The investigation is complete, and the process of adjudication needs to take its course,” Bauman said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
