LAKEPORT ?Although Sheriff Rod Mitchell said he”s received only appreciative responses from his debriefing on the case against Bismarck Dinius, he doesn”t expect universal gratitude.
A jury found Dinius not guilty for felony and misdemeanor boating under the influence charges Aug. 20. He was originally charged with manslaughter as well, but the district attorney dropped that charge.
Dinius was at the tiller of Mark Weber”s sailboat April 29, 2006 when a powerboat driven by off-duty Capt. Russell Perdock of the LCSO collided with the vessel. Sailboat passenger Lynn Thornton died as a result of the crash.
Mitchell released a debriefing report Tuesday that answered 22 questions about the Dinius case. Members of the public sent questions to Elizabeth Larson, editor and publisher of Lake County News, which she then boiled down with the help of Phil Murphy and Helen Whitney, former county supervisor. Mitchell took the questions and answered them with as much fact as possible, the way he would have in court, he said.
Mitchell doesn”t think doubts about the sheriff”s department”s actions will go away “as long as emotions are tied to this tragedy,” he said. He also thinks people who don”t think justice has been served will not be satisfied with the debriefing.
However, Mitchell said he provided the information not to pacify “cynics” but “for citizens who say, “What the heck is going on?””
Larson said she received about 50 or 60 e-mails with questions, which she handed off to Murphy and Whitney for sorting and then added to them.
She wasn”t surprised to get mixed responses from people who were happy with Mitchell”s debriefing and those who were quite angry, she said.
“People are going to have to take their feelings of this case and settle it at the ballot box next year,” Larson said.
Some of Larson”s readers simply don”t trust the sheriff or the district attorney, she said.
“It would be great to see the community trust officials again,” Larson said.
Larson said she thinks it”s great Mitchell was willing to answer questions, but his response will be like a Rorschach test.
Whitney and Murphy could not be contacted before press time.
Mitchell asked that citizens read the debriefing, which can be found at http://lakesheriff.com.
“I”m hoping that the average citizen will find the time over a sitting or a couple sittings to read it word-for-word,” Mitchell said.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
