The vessel homicide trial of South Florida real estate broker George Pino moved into its decisive phase this week, as defense attorneys called survivors of the 2022 Biscayne Bay crash and Pino’s own wife in a bid to convince jurors the tragedy was a pure accident.
Pino, 55, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and vessel homicide stemming from the Labor Day weekend crash on September 4, 2022. Prosecutors say he was piloting his 29-foot Robalo, carrying his wife, daughter, and eleven of his daughter’s teenage friends back from an 18th birthday celebration at an Elliott Key sandbar, when he slammed into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key. The collision killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez and seriously injured others.
The state’s case rested on a portrait of reckless operation. Prosecutors allege Pino drank alcohol and supplied it to the underage girls, noting that investigators recovered 61 alcohol containers from the wreck. They told jurors he accelerated from 43 to 47 miles per hour through the channel while traveling on the wrong side, and that the green day-glow marker should have been visible to him for 17 seconds, leaving nine seconds to avoid it.
The defense countered with witnesses who knew the family for years. Two survivors who were aboard, Claudia Portocarrero and Natalia Reed, testified that the ride felt entirely ordinary and that they saw no sign Pino was intoxicated. Both said the crash came without warning. One recalled opening her eyes after the impact, seeing blood, and fearing Pino was dead.
Cecilia Pino, the defendant’s wife, took the stand and grew emotional describing the chaos and her frantic search for the missing teen. Shown photos of the girls taken before the crash, she said the family had loved them since they were little. Good Samaritans who responded testified that Pino dove beneath the capsized boat to pull Fernandez out, and a maritime navigation expert challenged the conditions used in the state’s crash re-enactment.
Before the defense began, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez denied a motion for judgment of acquittal, a rarely granted request that would have ended the case without sending it to the jury. With the defense wrapping up its witnesses, the case is moving toward closing arguments and a verdict that has gripped South Florida.
