LAKE COUNTY ? A gag order that would have limited the prosecuting and defense attorneys” communication with the media in the Bismarck Dinius case was denied in a Friday court hearing.
Dinius was at the tiller of a friend”s sailboat the night of April 29, 2006, when it was struck from behind by a personal powerboat piloted by off-duty Lake County Sheriff”s Office Capt. Russell Perdock. 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 denied the motion for the gag order, which was filed by prosecuting Lake County Deputy District Attorney John Langan.
Langan requested the order because he said it would be hard to find fair and impartial jurors in Dinius” upcoming trial if attorneys shared opinions and strategies with the media. Byrne ruled there was no cause to grant the motion.
“I haven”t had a circumstance that”s come to my attention where the defense or any member of the defense team has acted improperly. I don”t like to control the right to freedom of speech and I don”t like to control the right to freedom of press unless it”s absolutely necessary,” Byrne said.
Dinius” May 19 trial date may be continued, depending on Byrne”s decision on that date regarding two new developments in the case.
Langan made a verbal motion to continue the trial because he said he had received new information too recently to develop a written motion.
“We have information that I believe now puts the burden on us to certainly make an effort to obtain personnel records of former (Lake County Sheriff”s Office) Sgt. (James) Beland in order to provide information that is required to belong to the defense,” Langan said.
Byrne continued the motion to compel the prosecution to pursue Beland”s personnel records until May 19 because attorneys separately representing Beland and the Lake County Sheriff”s Office both said they had not been given adequate notice to respond.
Langan also said witnesses had recently come forward with new information about “activities of a material witness in this case on the date of the incident.”
Langan continued, “We need to have time to confirm or deny the accuracy of the information we have just received.”
Langan said the witnesses were interviewed, but follow-up and investigation of the information would take “a considerable bit of time to sort through.”
Byrne said the latest the trial could begin would be June 7.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
