Hopkins is History

‘Yes We Can’ was a rallying cry in the ’08 presidential campaign, and one that was embraced by voters in yesterday’s Lake County primary elections. Incumbent District Attorney Jon E. Hopkins — the man who decided to prosecute sailor Bismarck Dinius instead of Deputy Sheriff Russell Perdock in the ’06 boating death of Lynn Thornton — was soundly ousted from a spot on November’s general election ballot by Don Anderson and Doug Rhoades. While the numbers seem surprisingly close — Anderson received 37.8% of the vote, Rhoades 32% and Hopkins 30.1% — the thing to keep in mind is that nearly 70% of the ballot-casters voted against Hopkins.

Similar numbers were seen in the race for Sheriff, but with different results. Deputy Francisco Rivero took the top slot with 38.5% of the vote, but the second spot was filled by incumbent Sheriff Rod Mitchell — who some think steered the ’06 investigation away from Perdock, his then-number two — with 34.5%. The remaining 27% went to Jack Baxter. Again, over 65% of the voters went against Mitchell, so it will be interesting to see who Baxter’s supporters follow in November. We don’t need to tell you what we hope for.

As for Bismarck Dinius, the man whose life was turned upside down by Hopkins’ ill-advised prosecution, he’s still just barely holding his head above water. Let go from his previous job more than a year ago due to the time he was forced to spend on his case, Bismarck is still unemployed. He long ago liquidated all of his assets to pay his legal bills but he still owes upward of $35,000. (You can donate to his defense fund through Paypal by sending money to [email protected] — if you’d prefer to send a check, contact LaDonna for instructions.)

The good news is that Bismarck just passed the licensing exam to become an insurance agent — now he just needs to find a job in or around the Sacramento area. And though he had to sell his own boat, he hasn’t stopped sailing. "We just won the Catalina 22 Region 10 Championships in the Go for the Gold Regatta on Scotts Flat Lake last weekend on Don Hare’s NoCatHare," he said. All of this, along with Perdock’s having been fired in April and Hopkins’ being out of a job himself, Bismarck is feeling upbeat today: "Two down, one to go!"