But justice has been skirted by having a high member of the Sheriffs dept. involved and his underlings providing his duck and run cover tactics from prosecution. It is a travesty

the law and facts don't matter to our DA, he says you can be as reckless as you want on the lake speed-wise because there is no speeed limit, unless you're not the number two cop in the SO, in which case you'll be charged with manslaughter.
Hopkins will lose his job over this and the Hughes case-count on it!

Get a grip - any person who drives a car or captains a sailing vessel (with or without sails) in the dark NEEDS TO HAVE THEIR LIGHTS ON and needs to be SOBER.

No lights makes you responsible.

Under the influence makes you responsible.

Lets say the motor boat was traveling at a lesser speed in the dark and the sail boat had no lights.....would the motor boat still have run into the sail boat.....probably. Would the damage have been as severe as this crash...probably not. Would the sail boat captain be responsible.....yes.

Lets say you are driving down the road traveling in your vehicle after dark and another car is driving down the road after dark with no lights and you crash into said other vehicle....the vehicle WITHOUT lights would be responsible. Add a DUI and the dark vehicle would be charged with more.

You can pull "rules" and "laws" of the waters out all you want - the bottom line is that CRIMINAL law says if you drive DRUNK and you are responsible.

Was it particularly SMART to be traveling that fast in the dark - no. Was it illegal - no. Will the driver of the motor boat carry this event with him for the remainder of his life - yes.

This was a tragedy that would have been avoided by the individual at the helm of the SAIL BOAT. If the sail boat hadn't been on the water in the dark with an inebriated driver this would not have happened.

As someone said you can't avoid a collision unless you can be seen. Running lights at night are required for that purpose. If you can't be seen then the protocols for right of way and maneuverability can not apply.

Hasn't that subject been addressed during the first portion of the preliminary? Wasn't the report that the light switch was on the "on" position and didn't filiment testing confirm this? And the questions of differing testimony on why it took an hour to get from Redbud to Lower Lake - my bs detector went ballistic on that aspect. There is more than enough blame to go around - this should have never been made a criminal case - the civil cases surrounding it will be hell enough. Nice to know that literally the eyes of the world are on us - wonder how our little ol' county will end up fairing in this matter? So far, not so good.

Last report I saw on the TV news, the defense had a witness that proved the running lights were on as reported by the sailboat captain.

Was the Deputy held to the same standards the rest of us are subject to under such circumstances? Did he get a DUI test before leaving the scene or shortly thereafter?

I think most of us would agree that if it proven that the sail boat had its running lights on, regardless of alcohol in the owner's system, then he is not at fault. It may be illeagal to drive a sailboat drunk, but being parked out on the lake with your lights on and having a motor boat hit you makes the operator of the motor boat at fault.
If I am walking home drunk from a bar, with a friend and a wreckless driver comes onto the sidewalk killing my friend, I sure hope I don't get charged with murder. Unless of course the driver is a cop, then I probably deserve it.

it is a FACT that at least TWO credible objective witnesses on the shore saw the nav lights lit on the boat.
It's a FACT that at least one of those witnesses was told by the SO investigator he was "wrong" !
It is a FACT that a safe sailing speed is a legal REQUIREMENT, and it is NEVER safe to go 40 mph when you can't see a thirty foot tall white object directly in front of you.
It is a FACT that seeing those lights silhouetted against shore lights in a boat going 40 mph is nearly impossible-that's almost certainly the way this accident occured.
It is a fact that the crew aboard the sailboat were EXPERT sailors, and the powerboat captain was NOT, the odds of ALL those experianced sailors leaving the lights off is almost nil.
the blog shilling for Perdock sickens me, Dinius has been framed and his state of intoxication had NOTHING to do with this!

Its them taking care of their own and when this part is over it needs to be look into. The attorney general of California is the first place to start.

Smurf, you said it best!

Don't forget that we do not know if Perdock was also drinking. He was able to put the testing off for some time and the other deputies don't remember who drove him, at what time, where they were? I hope if I ever get into a jam the cops will have the same type memory they have had in this case.

That's the problem with bad reporting is that people only remember the first reports like Perdock commented that the sailboat had no lights on. Well we know different now don't we. Better reporting then and update reporting on the case is needed to get the correct information out there as it comes in. How about this headline, "Sailboat lights determined by expert to be on, and working properly. Other eye witnesses see sailboat with lights on"

The Blog Shilling is all done by these officers, DA, Lawyers for the prosecution and their family and friends. So to talk sense to them in light of the real facts is futile my friends.

had everything to do with it. If they would have kept their drunk @sses dockside where they belonged, none of this would have happened. I have some serious doubts about the antiquated filament testing and it's elderly "expert".

sorry you are so perturbed by those darn pesky facts. Hey Elizabeth, how come the postings are all mixed regarding time/date markings? Computer gremlins :wink: ?

I think you're seeing different times higher on the page because a poster is responding directly to another post, which puts it higher in the thread.

Always gotta keep an eye on them gremlins!

Is a person with alcohol in their system a magnet for speeding boats? If I'm having some wine in library park, watching a concert, should I expect a car to run up on the curb and hit me.
You can't blame everything on alcohol.

His lights were ON. Is there a better test than the filament test? or should we just rely on the cop that ran him over.

When this is all said and done maybe the County of Lake should enact some "laws" that are definite and punishable regarding boating on this lake.
There already is a state alcohol law, there outta be an after hours speed law, and a forward light & spotter rule, sounds simple dont it but logic and law have nothing in common (sorta like the politicians that make them). :wink:
Between defense experts, Department of Justice experts (wow our own little CSI Lake County), eye witnesses this way and eye witnesses that way, and timelines that evening, all will come out in the trial. :shock:
I hope it is all reported accurately without bias because I don't have the time to sit there but I would like to find out what is happening. When it is all over there is only one fact, a person died. The only violations of existing law were intoxication and a to be decided issue about lighting. :cry:
The county can move real fast on quagga's but I haven't heard anything about enacting ordinances for safety on the lake. :idea:

Drive 55 - perhaps a simple speed law from dusk to dawn on the lake would make a big difference. I hear from friends in the Konocti area that when a concert ends the boats are coming full bore outta there. And there are other things that can be in the lake besides boats that don't have lights that can be struck.

THE REAL CRIMINALS HERE are THE DA AND THE SHERIFF.This case is tragic and should be worked out in a court of law where the facts will resolve the issue but when mM. Dinius only and not Mr. Perdock as well are charged its obvious that the game has been rigged.

if deputy Perdock had hit anything but a boat with an intoxicated driver he , by law he would be accountable, if any one is injured. Still, the criminal here is the DA, everyone else may or may not be guilty but Jon Hopkins isthe true third world class corrupt official in this case.

As an old yankee skipper once told me boating and drinking go hand in hand. It may not be smart or safe but it is the way it is and if Mr. Perlock was not drunk then he was stupid and dangerous driving at that speed in the dark (LOGS?!). I used to think it was some big city idiot with a new or rental boat that would almost hit me going too fast for safety but now ,I guess ,it may have been the local Baja bad ass lawman