Erik D. Jones's Blog

There’s a young 28 year old sailor from one of my favorite places, Melbourne, Australia, who has been slowly making his way around the world in a 26 foot Contessa. Owning and skippering my own 28 foot cruiser, it’s hard to imagine sailing too far from the coast let alone around the world in my boat. Nick Jaffe is a maverick and a little crazy, but no matter where he falls in that spectrum, I admire his courage and his determination. Read about his encounter with the trade winds here.

In the case of the People of the State of California vs. Bismark Dinius, the defense for Mr. Dinius has filed a motion with the court to disqualify the Lake County district attorney.  Since the case began, the Deputy District Attorney, John Langan, announced earlier this month that he would decide by this Friday whether or not he intended to dismiss the charges against Dinius.  Judge Byrne will hear the defense’s motion on June 30th.  The trial is set to begin on or about July 7th.

The key to the prosecuter’s case hinges on the claim that the sailboat that was struck by Sheriff’s Deputy Russell Perdock, was operating without proper lighting.  All of the boat’s occupants and witnesses onshore, including a former police officer all claim that the lights were on at the time of the accident, which occured April 29th, 2006.

Read more about this here

Summary of suspicious events:

• 911 tapes have mysteriously disappeared
• Officer Beland was fired after testifying that superiors ordered him not to give him a breath test for alcohol on shore that night
• A 110-page report from a private investigator hired by Officer Perdock was not disclosed to the defense until the day of the trial.  In that report, witnesses on shore including a retired police officer stated they saw the sailboat’s lights on.
• Officer Perdock’s ex-wife (married at the time), stated that he left at 6:30 to head to a bar that evening.
• Witnesses at the bar claim seeing Officer Perdock at the outside bar hours before the accident
• The family of the woman who was killed believe the wrong man is on trial