Settlement in Clear Lake Civil Case

Does everyone recall that the Lake County District Attorney has steadfastly refused to file any criminal charges against Lake County Deputy Sheriff Russell Perdock in the death of Lynn Thornton? This despite the fact that on the evening of April 29, 2006, Perdock slammed his powerboat into the stern of the sailboat Thornton was on at between 40 and 55 mph on pitch black Clear Lake.

Based on a settlement of all the insurance companies involved, as reported by Dan Noyes of KGO’s I-Team, the experts disagree with the D.A.’s view of who was responsible for what. The coverage from the various policies of those involved were pooled. The amounts were: $300,000 from Russell Perdock’s policy; $300,000 from the policy of Bismarck Dinius, who happened to be seated at the helm of the sailboat; $100,000 from the policy of Mark Weber, the owner of the sailboat; and $100,000 from the policy of James Walker, who was the lookout on Perdock’s boat.

The pooled money was awarded as follows:

$760,000 to Thornton’s son.

$18,000 to Weber.

$13,000 to Dinius.

And a big fat goose egg for Perdock.

In other words, the marine industry experts, who deal with such tragedies all the time, have made it clear that they believe Russell Perdock was primarily responsible for the accident and death of Thornton. It’s something that we, the overwhelming number of Latitude readers, and the overwhelming number of respondents to a poll in Lake County have been saying all along.

You can’t help but wonder how long it’s going to take for the D.A. to do the right thing, which would be to drop vehicular manslaughter charges against Bismarck Dinius, and file them against Deputy Russell Perdock. Just don’t try to hold your breath until it happens.

Click here to read Noyes’ excellent coverage on this travesty of justice.