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LAKEPORT – On Tuesday District Attorney Jon Hopkins went forward with dropping a vehicular manslaughter charge against a Carmichael man, while the defense filed a motion arguing for prosecutorial misconduct due to an open letter Hopkins issued Friday.
Judge J. Michael Byrne ruled that he found no misconduct on Hopkins' part, although he told the district attorney he didn't think issuing the open letter at this time was a good idea.
The day also saw a jury impaneled for Bismarck Dinius' trial, set to start next week.
Hopkins moved to drop the manslaughter charge against the 41-year-old Dinius, who is being tried for an April 29, 2006, boating collision that mortally injured Willows resident Lynn Thornton.
Dinius was steering a sailboat owned by Thornton's boyfriend, Mark Weber of Willows, when it was hit by a power boat driven by Russell Perdock, an off-duty chief deputy with the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Thornton died a few days later. Perdock was not charged in the case.
In an open letter to the community issued last Friday, Hopkins announced his plans to drop the felony vehicular manslaughter with a boat charge against Dinius, but noted his intention to move forward with a felony charge of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury.
Victor Haltom, Dinius' attorney, argued that the two charges are basically the same, and rotate on the same factual issues, so dropping the manslaughter charge was meaningless.
He also filed a motion alleging prosecutorial misconduct on Hopkins' part for releasing the letter in the middle of jury selection.
Hopkins said he chose to release the open letter at a time when it would not influence the jury. “This publicity is the result of information after the entire jury panel has been admonished by the court not to follow any media, including Internet and so forth,” he said.
If there's a question of jurors having seen the information, he suggested it would be a good idea to question them during the remainder of the selection process.
He said counsel can issue statements to mitigate “recent adverse publicity” that might affect a client in a case such as this.
“My client, of course, is the people, the community,” he said.
Hopkins said there has been a “steady barrage” of media coverage on the case that goes back a long time. He faulted Haltom for allegedly submitting all of his filings and motions to the media, saying that Haltom's entire 51-page prosecutorial misconduct motion was on a Bay Area TV Web site.
“We have had a blatant publicity campaign for months and months and months,” Hopkins said.
As a result, Hopkins said jurors have come to believe information that he characterized as false in the case.
He said Haltom has engaged in person attacks on him. “That is not the tenor of what I released.”
Hopkins also asserted that he didn't release any information that argued Dinius is guilty.
Haltom, Hopkins asserted, released false and misleading information to inflame jurors, while Hopkins argued that his open letter “is designed to not affect the jury.”
In addition, Hopkins said he wanted Judge Byrne to rule on whether or not there was any legal authority requiring the DUI charge to be dismissed along with the manslaughter charge.
During his arguments, Haltom said Hopkins' Friday afternoon letter “is a remarkable, unprecedented event.”
“I've never seen anything like it,” said Haltom. “The whole thing is an argument that Mr. Dinius is guilty.”
Haltom said Hopkins' letter repeatedly accused Dinius of being a “drunken sailor.” The fact that he also included information about Dinius' previous driving under the influence conviction was “egregious” and wouldn't be admissable in court.
Byrne asked where the statement actually had ended up. Haltom said it was posted on the district attorney's Web site and published in local media.
Haltom said the press has been interested in the case throughout the proceedings, and he maintained he has spoken to the press in an ethical manner at all times. Any information he's released has been public record.
The timing of the letter will result in the issue being talked about, and will “slow things down” as they have to question jurors more closely, Haltom said.
Arguing for the dismissal of the DUI charge, Haltom said there are for elements to consider for both offenses – driving, being under the influence, commission of a negligent act or omission and proximate causation of death.
“In this case those two charges are the same,” he said.
Byrne noted that both “are alternative charges on the same fact situation.”
Hopkins said the charges are such that if a person is convicted on the two charges at once, they wouldn't serve time for both.
Byrne said he was bothered by the fact that they were spending about 45 minutes to hear the motions when they could be spending time on the jury selection.
Regarding the media coverage, Byrne said he had gotten into the case too late to start criticizing one side or another. He said there's a constitutional right guaranteeing the press access. “That's part of our system as much as the trial by jury is part of our system.”
However, he told Hopkins, “I don't think it was a good idea to issue a press release at this time.”
Jurors, he noted, will be tempted to look at the information. However, given his instruction to the jury, Byrne said he didn't believe the proceedings would be subjected to undue prejudice.
The judge also said he was satisfied that the district attorney was not guilty of misconduct.
While there has been a huge amount of publicity, a trial can create a vacuum where jurors must decide about a case based on what witnesses are willing to say under oath, Byrne said. “Our tradition is that's a better source of information to make a decision on” than what those same witnesses might say when they're not on the stand and have nothing to lose.
Hopkins said he's been concerned from the start about slanted media coverage. However, he added, “It doesn't matter what they hear from this point forward, they should not be listening, and it would cause a reversal on appeal.”
Byrne said he understand the district attorney is a political figure who has a right to respond to public opinion. He said he read over Hopkins' statement a few times on Monday afternoon and didn't find any issues with what was released.
He requested counsel on both sides not allow anything else to go out at this state, but said he found nothing that rose to the level of misconduct.
The judge wanted to move to jury selection, but Haltom brought up Hopkins' plan to dismiss the manslaughter charge. “That ought to happen before the jury comes in,” Haltom said.
Hopkins, rising, stated, “I would at this time move to dismiss the county one” in the “interests of justice,” adding he'll proceed on the boating under the influence charge and two lesser included offenses of driving with a blood alcohol level over 0.08 and driving while under the influence.
Shortly before the 45-minute hearing ended, Haltom told the court that if Hopkins said during his opening statement that Dinius had a previous driving under the influence conviction it would result in a mistrial.
Byrne agreed. “That part would be improper.”
“I certainly know that,” said Hopkins.
Jury selection continued throughout the day, ending in the seating of a final jury panel, said Hopkins.
The panel consists of seven men and five women, with four alternates – three men and one woman, he said.
Hopkins said testimony is scheduled to begin on July 28.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE OAKS – Law enforcement officials are looking for an armed man who fled a crash scene on Sunday.
California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay said 24-year-old Berret J. Brown and a second unnamed subject ran from officers on Sunday morning.
Brown, who goes by the nickname “Bear,” is an active parolee at large who should be considered armed and dangerous, said Tanguay.
Brown was driving a 1995 Mazda MX6 northbound on Highway 53 approaching the stop sign at Highway 20 at approximately 10:30 a.m. Sunday when he struck the back end of a 2000 Mercedes driven by a 41-year-old Elk Grove woman who was sitting at the stop sign ahead of him, Tanguay said.
Tanguay said that, after the collision, Brown and an unknown male passenger got out of the Mazda and pushed it out of the roadway before fleeing the scene on foot.
CHP and the Lake County Sheriff's Office conducted a search for the men.
Reports from the scene indicated that one of the men was running north through nearby vineyards, and CHP had Verizon “ping” his phone to find him. One of the men – believed to be Brown – motioned in a manner that led officers to believe he was armed by no weapon was seen.
Tanguay said CHP asks anyone who has information about Brown's whereabouts to call the Clear Lake CHP office, 707-279-0103, or the Lake County Sheriff's Office, 707-262-4200.
The question is, how long will these century-mark temperatures last?
The high pressure system that's been holding sway over Lake County is slowing being pushed out by a stronger low pressure system that will usher in temperatures closer to normal over the next week, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento (NWS).
Highs today should top out around 95, and continue throughout the week, with lows in the mid- to upper-60s, the NWS predicts.
However, The Weather Channel (TWC) predicts that Tuesday and Wednesday will again surpass the century mark, with Thursday and Friday hovering closer to normal temperatures in the mid-90s.
Both the NWS and TWC agree that high temperatures for the weekend will reach the mid- to upper-90s, with overnight lows in the upper 50s to mid-60s.
The chance of precipitation from both agencies is zero with low humidity. Caution is advised as this is high wildfire season.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
Officials said the vehicle was recovered a short time later but the vehicle's key and the deputy's personal cell phone were missing.
Capt. Rob Howe of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that a sheriff's deputy responded to what he believed to be a fight behind Noble's Bar in Middletown at 12:55 a.m. Saturday.
The deputy followed one of the involved parties into the bar, Howe said, and upon returning to the parking lot, the deputy found that his patrol vehicle had been stolen.
The deputy located the vehicle approximately 10 minutes later, parked behind Hardester's Market in Middletown, with the key and phone missing, Howe said.
Howe said the vehicle’s Mobile Audio Visual (MAV) Unit captured video of the subject believed to have stolen the vehicle.
He said the suspect is still outstanding at this time. No description of the suspect has been released.
Capt. Rob Howe of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported Monday that Michael Wayne Schnell suffered a 7-inch laceration across his forearm in the incident, which occurred July 16.
Schnell was installing a swamp cooler at a friend's house at 12521 Foothill Boulevard in Clearlake Oaks when an unknown suspect approached and started shouting at them, according to Howe's report.
Howe said Schnell got into a brief argument with the suspect, who then produced a knife and slashed Schnell’s right forearm before fleeing the area.
Deputies responded to the scene, Howe said, and found Schnell, who was bleeding profusely and appeared to be losing consciousness.
Howe said medical personnel responded to the scene and Schnell was eventually transported by REACH helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Deputies searched the area for the suspect but didn't locate him. A description of the suspect wasn't released.
UKIAH – Hundreds of firefighters have been called in to fight a Ukiah area blaze that is putting out thick smoke that the wind is carrying into Lake County's air basin.
The Sheppard Fire started shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to Cal Fire spokesperson Tracy Boudreaux.
By 9:30 p.m. Monday the fire had grown to 105 acres in size, with 60-percent containment, Boudreaux reported.
Boudreaux said the fire is believed to have started in the area of 3630 Robinson Creek Road, cross of Highway 253 in Ukiah. The fire is in the west hills, in the area of Spanish Canyon and Oak Knoll.
“We're hitting it pretty hard with air tankers right now,” Boudreaux said early Monday evening, nothing there have been “spotting problems” with the fire.
More than 300 firefighters were on scene by the end of Monday, along with five air tankers, one helicopter, one water tender, four hand crews, three bulldozers and 18 engines on scene, Boudreaux said.
“We drew all of the closest engines to jump on this right away,” she said.
Cal Fire resources also have been called in from out of the county, she added.
Earlier in the day, structures were reported to be threatened in the immediate area. By by Monday night Boudreaux said the threat to the structures was minimal – unless the weather changed Tuesday.
No evacuations were in force, although Boudreaux said some people were asked not to return to their residences while firefighters are working earlier in the afternoon.
Later in the evening Boudreaux said all area roads had been opened up, some to residents only and others – like Boonville Road – to the public at large.
Boudreaux said more aircraft and hand crews are expected to be on scene on Tuesday.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Boudreaux.
“We haven't even had a chance to get to the origin,” she said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
