LAKEPORT?Bismarck Dinius and his wife shed tears of relief Thursday after the jury found him not guilty of felony and misdemeanor boating under the influence charges.
The third charge of misdemeanor boating with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more was dismissed after the jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of Dinius. Hopkins said he cannot charge Dinius again for the count.
Dinius was at the tiller of Mark Weber”s sailboat April 29, 2006 when off-duty Capt. Russell Perdock of the Lake County Sheriff”s Office collided with the vessel with his speedboat. Sailboat passenger Thornton died as a result of the crash.
Dinius”s eyes filled with tears and his face turned red as he said he shouldn”t have been charged with a crime.
“I don”t ever want to be in this position again,” he said.
He was “pretty close to breaking” as the court clerk read the jury”s verdict, he said.
Dinius said he doesn”t hate Perdock.
Juror No. 1, who did not want to be identified, thinks Dinius, Weber and Perdock should have been on trial, he said outside the courthouse.
The jury was swayed to vote not guilty because they doubted Dinius was the legal operator of the sailboat, juror No. 1 said. From the juror”s Naval service, he said responsibility falls on the captain, in this case not Dinius.
“This case was weak,” juror No. 1 said.
The technicalities allowed juror No. 1 to acquit Dinius, he said.
“We don”t want to condone drinking on the lake,” he said.
Jurors said they were apprehensive about being identified.
“I”ll be afraid of the sheriffs at this point,” juror No. 1 said.
Bias on the part of Lake County wasn”t a big consideration during deliberations, juror No. 1 said. Defense attorney Victor Haltom told jurors to teach the sheriff”s office and the district attorney a lesson during closing arguments Tuesday.
“I didn”t believe the ?stick it to the man” theme,” juror No. 1 said.
Juror No. 4 said he thinks Perdock”s speed played a role in Thornton”s death, but there is no speed limit on Clear Lake.
“People might hate Russell Perdock,” juror No. 4 said. “I don”t hate that man and I”m not gonna judge him.”
The jury room was chaotic during the first day of deliberations, but after about seven hours in two days the jury had a verdict for two of the three counts.
The felony charge was somewhat easy to vote not guilty on, the jurors said.
Juror No. 4 was also in the military and doesn”t think Dinius was responsible, he said.
“In no way do I think his drinking contributed to her death,” juror No. 4 said.
He thinks the sailboat lights were on because he has electrical experience and he agrees with the defense expert, William Chilcott, who testified Aug. 7 the evidence showed the lights were on, the juror said.
Juror No.6 quickly left the courtroom, along with many other jurors.
“It was a tragic incident,” she said.
Haltom thinks the jury made the right decision and the district attorney”s office should have charged Perdock, he said.
“He”s the one who caused Lynn Thornton”s death,” Haltom said.
Dinius and Weber were having a good time without violating laws on the sailboat, Haltom said.
“Whether they were stone-cold sober or under the influence would have not bore on preventing this accident,” Haltom said. “There was nothing they could have done.”
Hopkins said Perdock didn”t break any laws and a case against him would have to be civil, which was filed and decided.
“I would have had absolutely no chance of convicting Perdock beyond a reasonable doubt for running into a sailboat with no lights on and causing the injury,” Hopkins said.
If he thought he didn”t have the evidence to convict he wouldn”t have charged Dinius, Hopkins said.
Weber and Perdock were not at fault for the collision according to Hopkins, who contends Dinius was responsible.
“We need to make it clear that boating under the influence is a problem on Clear Lake,” Hopkins said.
Dinius plead guilty to driving under the influence in October 1999. He blew a .14 percent and .15 percent blood alcohol content on a breathalyzer, Hopkins said. Revealing that to the jury would have created prejudice.
Next, Hopkins will work on the Gerald Stanley case, the Barbara LaForge murder and the Riviera murder, he said.
Sgt. Dennis Ostini and Capt. Jim Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff”s Office declined to comment on the Dinius trial.
Dinius smiled and held his wife”s hand as he left the court.
“I”m going to have to rebuild my life,” Dinius said.
He lost his job at Verizon Wireless during the case because they wouldn”t allow him a leave of absence.
Dinius hasn”t decided whether he”s going to seek compensation for wrongful prosecution, he said.
“That”s not even in the works yet,” Dinius said.
Dinius”s wife, Roshell, just wanted to go home and hug her daughter, she said.
“We get to move on with our life,” she said.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
