LAKE COUNTY ?Bismarck Dinius”s lawyer said the Lake County Sheriff”s Office withheld and lied about evidence in the case against his client.
“Bismarck is taking legal action against Lake County authorities because they maliciously and wrongfully prosecuted him,” attorney Victor Haltom said.
Dinius filed a claim for damages against Lake County Monday.
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 declined to comment, referring all questions to Haltom.
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 powerboat. Sailboat passenger Lynn Thornton died as a result of the crash.
“As all of Lynn Thornton”s family members recognized, Russell Perdock was responsible for Lynn”s tragic death. Bismarck was not,” Haltom said. “Despite this obvious circumstance, Lake County authorities attempted to shift blame away from Perdock by going after Bismarck.”
The claim will go to a third-party administrator to review whether to accept the claim, county counsel Anita Grant said. If accepted, the claim would be covered by liability insurance. If denied, Dinius could either drop the claim or file a case against the county in state or federal court.
The third-party administrator has 45 days from Monday to respond, Grant said.
Dinius stated in the claim his defense cost him $300,000, his job, emotional distress and loss of reputation.
“The criminal prosecution of Bismarck went on for over three years,” Haltom said. “Bismarck had to spend a great deal of his own money defending against the baseless charges against him. He lost his job as a result of the time he had to spend in court. He had worked for Verizon for approximately a decade, but lost that job shortly before the commencement of the criminal trial. Moreover, Bismarck had to endure the grueling ordeal of being arrested, prosecuted, and tried for criminal offenses he did not commit.”
Dinius filed the claim against Perdock, Sheriff Rod Mitchell, District Attorney Jon Hopkins, and the following LCSO officers; Sgt. Dennis Ostini, Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Wells, Capt. Cecil Brown, Capt. James Bauman, Sgt. James Samples, retired Sgt. Wesley Frey, former Sgt. Dean Pick and Sgt. Andy Davidson.
Hopkins said he thought the claim was outrageous.
“There”s absolutely no truth to anything they say,” Hopkins said.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
