As an attorney, I am appalled at District Attorney Jon Hopkins’ incompetence and awful decision-making. He has embarrassed Lake County and cost the taxpayers a great amount of money (how much, Jon?) in his unsuccessful and ill-advised prosecution of Bismarck Dinius. This is his second extremely costly and knuckle-headed prosecution since his election as district attorney, the first being the Hughes fiasco. I hope that a reasonably competent attorney, from private practice rather than being inbred from the DA’s Office, will run against Hopkins in the next election. It is certainly time for major change in the DA’s office.

Some think Hopkins prosecuted Dinius to protect Captain Russell Perdock. Although that might have been his motivation at first, once the civil case against Perdock and others was settled, with Perdock’s insurance paying the $300,000 policy limits, the protection factor ended, and the best way for Hopkins to protect Perdock at that point would have been to dismiss the case against Dinius, rather than making a public spectacle of Perdock at the trial. I think that Hopkins’ hardheadedness and extreme tunnel vision led to this embarrassing trial, and prevented him from rationally evaluating the evidence in this case. If he had, he surely would have decided to dismiss the entire case against Dinius. This would also have been in Perdock’s best interest, unless Hopkins decided to prosecute Perdock instead.

Given the facts of this case, and the necessity for all 12 members of the jury to agree in order to convict Dinius, I simply don’t understand how any rational prosecutor could expect to convict Dinius. Hopkins didn’t lose the trial because he is an awful trial lawyer, he lost the trial because it was an unwinnable case that should never have been filed in the first place. His poor judgment in bringing this case led to the unanimous not guilty verdict, not his questionable trial skills. How he expected to convince one jury member to convict, let alone all 12, is beyond my comprehension. Attorneys and laypersons alike could see that this was an unwinnable case, and perhaps the wrong person was on trial, why couldn’t Hopkins?

Hopkins’ lengthy open letter about this case to the county newspapers, on July 17, 2009, as the jury was being picked, was shocking, outrageous and embarrassing, and may have been a violation of the California Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct. A letter like that on the eve of trial is unheard of in legal circles, and again highlights Hopkins’ extremely poor judgment. It seems that Hopkins, in writing this desperate letter, was much more concerned about his public image and re-election than justice.

We need a district attorney with impeccable judgment. Hopkins has demonstrated that he lacks good judgment and common sense. Who from outside the DA’s Office will come forward and run against Hopkins for district attorney in the next election? Maybe we shouldn’t wait for another election, perhaps the voters of Lake County should immediately wage a recall campaign against Hopkins.

Attorney Ron Green is based in Lower Lake.