Boat driver on trial for deadly crash becomes emotional during opening statements
George Pino was behind the wheel in a crash that killed Lucy Fernandez.
Opening statements resumed Tuesday after a man accused of killing his daughter's teenage friend in a 2022 boat crash got visibly emotional.
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.
Pino 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 and 10 more of his daughter's friends -- were injured, officials said.
Defense attorney Howard Srebnick told jurors in his opening statement that Pino never intended to hurt anyone -- including Fernandez, whom he had known since she was a little girl.
"He did not intend to crash into a marker. He did not intend for anybody to be hurt. His own daughter, his own wife, his own body was on that boat," Srebnick said.
Pino began to get emotional 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.
"I don't think he's well," Srebnick told the judge while requesting that Pino be examined "to make sure he's not having an event that could be problematic."
Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez said if Pino felt emotional again, "it's not proper for the jury at all to be witnessing the emotional behaviors," to which Srebnick agreed. Court proceedings were ultimately suspended for the day.
When the trial resumed on Tuesday, prosecutor Laura Adams asked if the court was going to address "what happened yesterday, with the defendant, and hopefully seek his assurance that he won't have an outburst like that again."
Mendez responded that she addressed it with his counsel and provided options for Pino to avoid any further disruptions.
Srebnick continued his opening remarks Tuesday, saying 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.
"He made every effort he could ... once he was able to get his senses back to try to save Lucy's life," he said.
Pino appeared to be fighting back tears as Srebnick finished his opening statement.
Fernandez's father testified on Tuesday as the state's first witness. 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.
Fernandez had been airlifted to an area hospital, where she ultimately died. Her father called the sight of her in the hospital "horrific, a parent's worst nightmare."
"When we walk in, a nurse is performing some sort of emergency CPR on her to just try and keep her faint heartbeat alive," he said. "We have no doubt she was holding on for [her mother] and I to get there."
Pino's trial is expected to last about two weeks, according to ABC Miami affiliate WSVN. He faces potentially decades in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that Pino, 55, failed to operate the boat safely, such as maintaining a proper lookout and driving at a safe speed. They also allege 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.
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a case about responsibility and accountability, or I should say the lack of both on the part of the defendant in this case, George Pino," Adams said during opening statements on Monday.
She alleged that Pino and the minors on the boat had been drinking when he plowed into the marker while driving on the wrong side of the channel "as a result of his complete abandonment of good judgment and responsibility."
"This defendant drove his boat after consuming alcoholic drinks that was full of teenagers who also had been drinking alcohol right into that big steel channel marker in Biscayne Bank in broad daylight," she said.
Srebnick said Pino had two beers but was not impaired and was not charged with driving under the influence. He also said there was no speed limit in the channel.
Srebnick said it appears Pino's memory of how the crash occurred "cannot be relied upon, given his traumatic brain injury," pointing to his statements about another boat.
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