{"id":1569,"date":"2026-06-09T17:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1569"},"modified":"2026-06-09T17:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:31:17","slug":"pinos-attorneys-stress-fatal-boat-crash-was-an-accident-not-a-crime-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1569","title":{"rendered":"Pino\u2019s attorneys stress fatal boat crash was an accident, not a crime"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>When George Pino crashed his boat Into a steel channel marker, killing a teen girl, he was distracted for unknown reasons, one of his attorneys told jurors.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1568\">Woman dies after being hit by a car in Fort Lauderdale, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>But that, attorney Howard Srebnick said, does not amount to recklessness.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Pino was not thrill-seeking. He was not speeding. He was not doing doughnuts. He was not racing any other boats,\u201d Srebnick said during opening statements. \u201cThis was, pure and simple, an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Srebnick concluded his speech to the jury on Tuesday morning after Pino on Monday caused the trial to be paused because he sobbed and breathed heavily. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez ordered the jury removed from the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Miami Fire Rescue did not comment on Pino\u2019s condition. After walking into court on Tuesday, Pino told his defense team he was \u201cfeeling good this morning. I got a good night\u2019s rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>READ MORE: After prosecutor lays out boat crash case, George Pino causes trial to pause<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Pino, 54, is on trial on charges of manslaughter and vessel homicide in the Sept. 4, 2022, crash. Luciana \u201cLucy\u201d Fernandez was killed, and Katerina \u201cKaty\u201d Puig, now 21, another passenger, was left with physical and neurological disabilities. Dozens of Lucy\u2019s loved ones and Pino\u2019s supporters tightly packed both sides of the large courtroom.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Minutes before Monday\u2019s interruption, prosecutor Laura Adams had finished her opening statements, which consisted of more than 45 minutes of her laying out that Pino acted recklessly up to and when he slammed his 29-foot Robalo center console into a steel channel marker, sending himself and all 13 of his passengers into the water.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was not a mere accident or momentarily lapse,\u201d the prosecutor said. \u201cLucy is dead because the defendant failed to do the most basic things the rules on the water require.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Crash was not a crime: defense<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Standing at the lectern in front of the jury on Tuesday, Srebnick said that Sunday in 2022 was \u201can ideal day for boating.\u201d The seas were calm, and there was no wind or rain. Pino and his wife were celebrating their daughter\u2019s 18th birthday with 11 of her friends on the boat.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Pino had made the voyage through Cutter Bank several times on the \u201cwell-built boat,\u201d Srebnick said. But that day, Pino got distracted nine seconds before he slammed his boat into the steel channel marker.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>That showed Pino momentarily \u201clost situational awareness,\u201d but does not show he acted recklessly or was culpably negligent, the attorney said. As Srebnick addressed the jury, Pino closed his eyes, as if crying, and shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1567\">How much is that World Cup ticket in Miami? See the latest on prices<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut even so, somebody died,\u201d Srebnick said. \u201cMr. Pino will have to live with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Although Pino was traveling fast and on the wrong side of the channel, Srebnick countered that neither is illegal. Pino, Srebnick added, also had the required number of life preservers, and the boat was not overloaded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>During his opening, Srebnick focused on why Pino told investigators he crashed because the wake of another boat caused him to lose control. No witness, including people on his Robalo or in other boats behind him, saw what the prosecutor previously called the \u201cphantom boat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Pino\u2019s recollection of the crash, Srebnick said, was affected by a traumatic brain injury that he sustained. The head injury caused Pino to have \u201ca false memory\u201d about how the crash unfolded that he \u201cbelieved to be true,\u201d Srebnick said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>While out at Elliot Key before the crash, the adults and some of the children on the boat consumed alcohol, Srebnick said. Witnesses observed Pino drinking a beer, and he told FWC investigator Lt. William Thompson he had \u201ctwo beers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>However, Srebnick pointed out that several people on the scene, including Thompson, concluded Pino was not impaired.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Srebnick also said the 61 empty or partially empty bottles of alcohol found on Pino\u2019s boat when it was pulled out of the water were on the vessel because Pino\u2019s wife gathered them from other boaters partying with them to avoid littering.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Facing the jury, Srebnick repeated that the crash was a tragedy \u2014 and was not caused by reckless or culpably negligent behavior.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll it would have taken would be a slight turn of the wheel, and none of us would be here,\u201d Srebnick said. \u201c&#8230; The evidence will show that Mr. Pino was human and that something happened that we may never know. &#8230; Why was he distracted for those 9 seconds?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1565\">A Publix in South Florida sold Monday\u2019s only big money lottery jackpot winner<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Pino\u2019s attorneys concluded their opening statements a day after Pino\u2019s sobbing caused a pause in the trial. Crash that killed teen not reckless: defense<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pino\u2019s attorneys stress fatal boat crash was an accident, not a crime - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1569\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pino\u2019s attorneys stress fatal boat crash was an accident, not a crime - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"George Pino\u2019s attorneys concluded their opening statements a day after Pino\u2019s sobbing caused a pause in the trial. 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