Boat driver found not guilty in Florida crash that killed daughter's teen friend, wounded others

MIAMI -- A man accused of killing his daughter's teenage friend in a 2022 Florida boat crash was found not guilty of vessel homicide and manslaughter.

George Pino, a prominent South Florida real estate broker, was charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of vessel homicide in connection with the Labor Day weekend boat crash. 

Jurors in Miami-Dade County began deliberating Monday evening before reaching a verdict within two hours. 

Pino, 55, chose not to testify during the often emotional trial. He could be seen crying and embracing his family after the verdict was read.

The father of two was driving his 29-foot Robalo boat on Sept. 4, 2022, when he struck a boat marker in the Cutter Bank channel in Miami-Dade County, officials said.

Lucy Fernandez, 17, died from injuries sustained in the crash, and everyone else on board -- including Pino, his wife, their daughter whose birthday they were celebrating and 10 more of his daughter's friends -- were injured, officials said. One of the teens, Katy Puig, suffered "catastrophic" injuries and now requires 24/7 medical care, prosecutors said.

Following the verdict, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, whose office prosecuted the case, said she and her prosecutors disagreed with but accepted the jury's finding.

"Sadly, I know that this verdict brings no comfort to the Fernandez and Puig families who forever must live with the tragedy of what happened," she said. "In a case like this, there are no winners or losers. Mr. Pino must live with what he did, while the Fernandez and Puig families will grapple with the consequences of his actions. These families and, to some extent, our community as a whole have been deeply impacted by this tragedy." 

Prosecutor Laura Adams alleged during closing arguments on Monday that Pino made "mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake" that day, culminating in the deadly crash. 

She alleged that Pino failed to operate the boat safely, such as maintaining a proper lookout and driving at a safe speed considering how many people were on board, driving nearly 50 mph before he crashed into the channel marker. She said he had been inattentive for nine seconds and was driving on the wrong side of the channel before the crash occurred, and that he and the minors on the boat had been drinking prior to the crash.

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Adams urged the jurors to return a guilty verdict, arguing that Pino "did do an intentional act, like deciding how fast to go and what direction to travel, and that caused Lucy's death, and because the way that he operated that vessel was culpably negligible."

Prosecutors also alleged he lied to police about how the boat crash occurred by saying a wave from a passing boat caused him to lose control, though there was no evidence of another boat.

Defense attorney Howard Srebnick argued during his closing on Monday that Pino "made a mistake" and didn't see the marker, but said that that doesn't make him a criminal. 

He argued that it's possible that Pino's view of the marker was "less than ideal" due to the teens seated in the bow of the boat, and not because he had reckless or conscious disregard for people's safety.

The defense attorney pushed back on what the prosecution said were factors in the crash, saying that there was no speed limit in the channel and that others on the boat weren't concerned about speed, and that Pino had two beers but was not impaired and was not charged with driving under the influence. 

Srebnick said it appears Pino's memory of how the crash occurred is unreliable due to a "traumatic brain injury" he suffered in the crash. Pino suffered a concussion during the crash and was "disoriented," though was able to find and retrieve Fernandez, who had been trapped under the boat when it capsized, Srebnick said.

The defense attorney told jurors that Pino never intended to hurt anyone -- including Fernandez, whom he had known since she was a little girl.

"A bad thing happened, a tragedy happened, a lot of pain has come from this," Srebnick said, going on to argue that there is "no evidence, none, that ever once in his mind he thought that he was putting anybody's life in jeopardy."

Pino got emotional during opening statements in the trial while Srebnick discussed the close friendship between the teens and families, appearing distraught and breathing deeply. The defense attorney's opening remarks were disrupted as Pino continued to visibly react, and the jurors left the courtroom, with opening statements resuming the following day. 

During the approximately two-week trial, jurors heard testimony from Pino's wife and several of Fernandez's friends who were on the boat at the time of the crash, who recalled the chaotic situation as the boat capsized.

Jurors also watched body camera video from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials who first responded to the scene of the crash, heard from law enforcement and good Samaritans who helped and saw the boat involved in the crash in person.

Fernandez's father also testified. He had been at a sandbar that Pino and the passengers had traveled to prior to the crash. He and his wife went to the scene of the crash, which he described as "chaos."

"We were just screaming, 'Where's Lucy?'" her father, Andres Fernandez, said.

He said they eventually learned she had been taken to a hospital, where she died the following day.