George Pino Trial: Did the Defense Just Call Their Client a Liar? - FL v Pino

[00:00:00] Tony DeWitt: The second part of the recreation or reconstruction on Friday was interesting, but I don't think it was nearly as interesting as the cross-examination that followed. Let's take a look in just a second. I'll be right back. Hi, Tony DeWitt here. Formerly, I was a Missouri attorney in active practice. Then I retired. Then I unretired and started a YouTube channel. And I bring you all kinds of stuff about trials and the law. So no legal advice is given, but stay tuned. This is what we're talking about today. Today, we're following the trial of Miami-area developer George Pino, who is charged with manslaughter and vessel homicide arising from a tragic Labor Day weekend boat crash in Biscayne Bay back in 2022. Prosecutors allege that Pino was operating a 29-foot boat carrying his family and a group of teenage girls when he sped through a channel and slammed into a marked navigational aid, throwing passengers into the water. 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez later died, and another young woman suffered life-altering injuries. The defense maintains this was a terrible accident, not a crime, and disputes the state's allegations of recklessness. Let's get you caught up on what happened today. We're going to pick up the video here where the prosecutor is going to put up what I would call the George Pino view of the channel marker. And she's going to go through some questions with the deputy, or I guess with the officer from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. And I think that the video was pretty helpful to the jury because they could see what George should have been able to see. Let's take a listen to that, and then we'll look at a little of the cross-examination, which is also interesting. [00:02:05] Speaker 2: What were the wind and, I guess, sea conditions, like when this was done? [00:02:13] Speaker 3: Very favorable. Low winds, very slight chop, very small waves on the water. [00:02:22] Speaker 2: Was that similar to the weather conditions on the afternoon of September 4th, 2022, Biscayne Bay in the vicinity of Cutterbank? Yes, ma'am. I'd like to ask if during this process of trying to recreate for the jury a sense of what the defendant's vessel was doing prior to and at impact, was there somebody who actually sat in seat 9, the seat that was identified as the seat that Lucy had been and filming from that vantage point where the vessel was traveling? Yes, ma'am. Have you seen that video? Yes, ma'am. For the record, I'm showing councils... Oh, no, it's already in evidence. States Number 98. Earlier, did you get a chance to look at this? Yes, ma'am. And you put your initials on it? Yes, ma'am. Judge, at this time, I promise, we did it. [00:03:16] Speaker 4: Same objections previously inferred. [00:03:19] Speaker 3: And all of those objections, that made it. [00:03:36] Speaker 2: Lieutenant, would you be able to come down front of the courts? Yes. I'm going to stop this a couple of times and then replay it from the beginning, but we're heading down the channel. Yes, ma'am. And I'm going to stop this and ask you kind of where we're at. [00:03:51] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:03:59] Speaker 2: What channel marker is that? Be 13. 13A? Take a closer. [00:04:08] Speaker 3: 13A. [00:04:09] Speaker 2: Okay. What's this right here? [00:04:26] Speaker 3: That's the first GPS buoy. [00:04:28] Speaker 2: And what does that represent? [00:04:29] Speaker 3: It's starting reaching that at 43 miles an hour. That is the moment where I start to accelerate to 47 miles an hour. [00:04:36] Speaker 2: And is this buoy in just about the same location as that second-to-last track point before the bus extracts the channel marker? Yes, ma'am. [00:04:44] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:04:57] Speaker 2: When I'm pointing to here with my pen, what is that? [00:05:03] Speaker 3: That's the second GPS buoy. [00:05:05] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:05:05] Speaker 2: And this represents the last track point prior to impact? Yes, ma'am. [00:05:23] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:05:54] Speaker 2: Lieutenant, when is this channel marker there? [00:05:58] Speaker 3: Green marker 15. [00:05:59] Speaker 2: You're quite a ways away from it. [00:06:02] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:06:02] Speaker 2: We can see it already? [00:06:04] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:06:15] Tony DeWitt: Now, I was counting down in my head as we started that again, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, and I got to 7,000. So, at the time she'd stopped it, there were about seven seconds left until what would have been impact. And you could very clearly see that channel marker, and this was the view, I think, from a boat, or from the seat which was in front of George, but still, obviously that marker was highly visible. [00:06:43] Speaker 2: And the last thing I want to ask you about was yesterday, our jurors came and examined the robalo at your office, just in front of the office building, yes? Yes, ma'am. Now, prior to them viewing the boat, did you stand next to the boat and point to two locations on that vessel? [00:07:06] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:07:19] Speaker 2: I'm going to go through state's exhibit number 68, and if the witness can step down, please judge us. Can you use this exhibit to point out the two locations that you pointed to for the jurors? [00:07:36] Speaker 3: The first point is right here. The second point is right here. [00:07:43] Speaker 2: Can you explain to the jurors what you're pointing out? [00:07:46] Speaker 3: Up here, I'm pointing out what we call the paint transfer from the green dayboard that was on top of markers 15, that's the initial impact point. [00:07:56] Speaker 2: And you pointed to a second location? [00:07:59] Speaker 3: Here. [00:07:59] Speaker 2: What is that? [00:08:00] Speaker 3: Secondary impact point. [00:08:02] Speaker 2: And why were you, um, what was there that let you know that? [00:08:07] Speaker 3: The extreme amount of damage that started from this point. [00:08:10] Speaker 2: And in fact, was the paint transfer there as well? [00:08:16] Speaker ?: Yes, ma'am. [00:08:20] Speaker 2: Showing council states 5S and 5T. Do exhibits 5S and 5T represent the two locations of paint transfer that you just described? [00:08:40] Tony DeWitt: Yes, ma'am. So at this point, she introduces those into evidence and walks them by the jury again to show them again these paint transfers. And I think that's important because it's essentially telling the jury where the accident happened to the boat and to the channel marker at the same time. So at this point, she's pretty much done with this witness. The expert is going to testify on Monday, I guess. But right now, what's going to happen is the cross-examination is going to begin. Now, the gentleman who's doing the cross-examination, I really like. I like his style. I like the way he goes about it. And I like the fact that he is non-confrontational. He's not up in his face. He's not being abusive. He is being a gentleman. Rory Richen's lawyers could learn a lot from this guy because he knows how to cross-examine. He has done a good job here. And basically, he's going to go after George Pino's mental state. And so it begins like this. [00:09:52] Speaker 4: So, first thing I'm going to do, talk to you about, there's a boating accident, a serious injury. And Mr. Pino, then there was some conversation between you, Mr. Pino, about alcohol, correct? Yes, sir. And Mr. Pino says to you, in response, he says, you know, I have two beers. You recall him saying that? Yes, sir. And your response to that was, and it's not illegal to boat and drive. It's not illegal to drink a beer or a couple of beers and drive. And that's a true statement, isn't it? Yes, sir. And Mr. Pino says, I feel perfect in the way my mind was. I mean, I know what happened. I've been operating boats forever. I've done that ride a thousand times. Do you know if Mr. Pino has done that ride a thousand times? I did not know. Do you know if it's true? [00:10:42] Speaker 3: I do not know if that's true. [00:10:45] Speaker 4: Did you ever examine or become aware of the data examination of the GPS devices in Mr. Pino's boat? Yes, sir. Did either of the historic track points or in either of the GPS devices reflect thousands of rides through the Cotterbank channel? No, did not. So this was Mr. Pino's memory. Objection. [00:11:08] Tony DeWitt: That was a clever question. And it drew an objection because she's asking the witness, or I should say, he is asking the witness to hypothecate here. Well, it must have been his memory. Well, it's either his memory or it's hyperbole. People talk this way. I've done it a thousand times. When nobody sits down and counts to a thousand when they're doing anything, I've cooked a lot of hamburgers on a barbecue grill. I've cooked a lot of steaks on a barbecue grill. And I'm sure at some point I have said, I've done it a thousand times. But I haven't done it a thousand times. I probably haven't done it, even have done it 500 times. Hyperbole. That's how people talk. So the idea of making it look like this is his memory is very clever. But I would hope that a jury would understand that Pino was talking colloquially. He wasn't talking literally. [00:12:05] Speaker 4: The GPS devices did not bear out Mr. Pino's statement that he had been through the Cutter Channel thousands of times. Is that correct? [00:12:12] Speaker ?: Correct. [00:12:15] Speaker 4: And you reply to that and you say, you're allowed to drink alcohol and drive a boat. And this is what you told him, right? Yes, sir. And again, that is a true statement, right? Yes, sir. [00:12:26] Tony DeWitt: It may very well be a true statement, but I would not get on a boat with anyone who had, for any reason, had alcoholic beverages and they were driving the boat. Because it is an absolute recipe for disaster. [00:12:42] Speaker 4: And during this conversation, further, Mr. Pino takes the opportunity, after following some additional conversation between the two of you, he takes the opportunity to tell you again about what his recollection, what his memory is of how the accident occurred. Do you recall that? Yes, sir. And Mr. Pino says, I was, that was my wife and myself, right? And then two girls were on the back. And the rest of the girls in the front and the seating area. And then we were going through the last marker. There was a boat coming through, which was bigger. So the waves, I was veering to the right to cut into the waves. You say, okay. Mr. Pino continues. Right, like I always do, cut right through the waves. And I, and I knew I was going to hit some waves. I looked back at the two girls that were sitting back there because I was a little concerned. I told my wife, watch, watch. It was, I even remember exactly who it was. It was, uh, it was Coco. Pretty sure it was Coco and Andrea. Do you recall him giving you that answer? Yes, sir. Now, Coco, he was referring to someone by the name of Coco Aguilar, correct? Yes, sir. And Andrea, he was referring to someone known as Andrea Knopfler, correct? Yes, sir. And both, uh, Coco Aguilar and Andrea Knopfler, they were passengers on Mr. Pino's boat at the time that this accident occurred. [00:14:18] Speaker 3: Yes, sir. [00:14:18] Speaker 4: And Mr. Pino was telling you that he, he even remembers exactly who was sitting behind him. Again, saying it was Coco and Andrea. Is that right? Correct. Now, that turned out not to be true. Is that right? [00:14:33] Speaker 2: Mr. Pino's here saying. [00:14:36] Speaker 4: Did you conduct, you conducted a further investigation in the days and months leading, or after this accident, correct? Yes, sir. And you determined, uh, who, in fact, of the passengers were sitting in the back of the boat, didn't you? Yes, sir. And did your investigation reveal that it was Sarah Gutierrez? [00:14:56] Speaker 2: Objection. This is hearsay. [00:14:57] Speaker 4: This is hearsay. Your investigation did not reveal that Coco Aguilar and Andrea Knopfler were sitting in the back of the boat. [00:15:08] Speaker 2: Objection. It's hearsay. Thank you. [00:15:10] Tony DeWitt: Now, I'm just a simple country lawyer from Missouri, but, uh, it sounded a lot to me like he was telling the witness there that his client's a liar. Except, that's not really what he's doing. He's setting something up that is perhaps more strategic and maybe a little, maybe a little greasy. Basically, what he's trying to do is he's trying to show that there was this trauma and his memory's off. He just, he doesn't know who was sitting where. I mean, the poor guy's brain's been hit. He fell down. He hurt his head when we had this crash and he doesn't remember anything except what he does remember is out of sync and it's wrong. And that's what he's going for. But to me, if I'm sitting on the jury panel, I'm thinking, excuse me, did you just say your client sitting over there in the sports coat is a liar? Because that's what I heard. Like I said, it gets better. [00:16:23] Speaker 4: While the clerk is looking for the exhibit, I wanted to ask you some questions about your reenactment that you did on June 9th, 2025. Do you recall, I received a, when I asked you this, do you recall what time it was that the actual reenactment was done? I'll have to look at my notes. Do you have your notes with you? I do. Why don't you take a look at those and look up to me. If you have your memory in a correction. Around 8.47 a.m. What, 8.47 a.m.? Is that when the actual runs with the vessel were done? I don't have that report with me. [00:17:05] Speaker 3: That was the time frame that we started doing runs, but I don't know the full time frame of how long. [00:17:10] Tony DeWitt: You can tell what he's doing here. He is raising the issue of the time of day, in large part because the crash occurred closer to night. So, in this place, he will be going into the sun as opposed to when the crash happened, the sun was behind them. That may make a difference with regard to visibility. At any rate, it's going to be part of their challenge to the admissibility of all of the reconstruction evidence. And the report of the expert that did the actual animation and reconstruction, which is not what we're seeing or what we have seen so far. [00:17:51] Speaker 4: The group of persons that were going to be involved met at Bayfront Marina at about 8 a.m. that day, is that right? Yes, sir. And so you're saying that about 8.47, you guys were out at the location? Yes, sir. And that's when the activity began, is that right? Yes, sir. Do you know what the pie was, the pie things, at that time? I do. On that day, what was it? [00:18:14] Speaker 3: It was a plus 1.75. Sorry, I didn't. Plus 1.75. [00:18:29] Speaker 4: I think that I want to show you one of the drone aerial footage that was taken on that day. So take a look at that with me. Yes, sir. Before we look at the video, as I understand it, your testimony earlier was that you tried to follow the historic track that Mr. Pino's vessel took on the day of this accident test as you possibly could. Is that correct? Yes, sir. And the track that you followed was, you know, based on the information that you took off or that you received from Mr. Pino's actual SIMRAD GPS device. Is that right? [00:19:21] Speaker 3: The information that was given to Paul Adler, yes. [00:19:24] Speaker 4: All right. And you were able to, it was actually you that was navigating or that was driving the test phone? [00:19:30] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:19:31] Speaker 4: And you had that information, I presume, on the screen in front of you, the historic track, so that you could kind of steer on that. Is that right? Mr. Appelor did. [00:19:40] Tony DeWitt: Again, he's trying to nail down similarities and differences between the conditions at the time of the accident, as well as how the entire process was conducted, because that will have an impact on admistibility. [00:19:58] Speaker 4: You said, was Mr. Albert, Albert was driving the boat? No, he was present. My question, though, is that you were, how was it that you were able to drive on the, close to the same track, Mr. Pino's truck? [00:20:13] Speaker 3: He set the GPS buoys himself and told and instructed me to follow the buoys from one buoy to the next. [00:20:19] Speaker 4: Understood. And that was based on the historic tracks that were present on Mr. Pino's SIMRAC device? Yes. And you are comfortable, or you were convinced that the buoys that Mr. Albert set up for you are consistent with the actual course that Mr. Pino drove on the day in Saxon. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Carlos, if you would, if you would call up S1001384, may Lieutenant Thompson come down and take votes? [00:20:55] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:21:01] Speaker 4: So I'm going to play this for one time and then we'll ask some questions about it. [00:21:08] Speaker ?: Yes, ma'am. [00:21:20] Speaker 4: Prior to, uh, hold up for a second. And prior to viewing this, you and I met today, you authenticated for me that this video lecture about this music is an active representation of what's in place that makes that correct? Yes, ma'am. [00:21:34] Speaker 2: Excuse me, can we have what exhibit number this is? [00:21:37] Speaker 4: Yes, it's 97. Thank you. I want you to start at the moment. Hold up there. So this is the vessel that you're operating, Lieutenant? Yes, sir. And just for sake of the record, what we're looking at here is it would be a part of the current bank channel, correct? Yes, sir. Okay. And can you see what the, I'm pointing at the channel marker, do you know what channel marker that is? 13A, 13A, and I'm pointing at another one of the red triangle, what, what that is? 14. And the final channel marker, that was one again? 15. [00:22:19] Speaker ?: 15. [00:22:19] Speaker 4: 15 is the channel marker that was aligned with it, is that right? Yes sir. Okay. [00:22:53] Tony DeWitt: What I find hard to understand here, and I'm sure he probably has a completely rational explanation for why he's doing this, and a strategic reason as well, but he's reinforcing the presentation that was done by the state. He just played the same thing the state did, and he didn't take any issues with it as he played it. And so when you do this, you're doing it in front of the jury, there ought to at least be some criticism of it so that it doesn't look like you're endorsing the position of the state in this endeavor. [00:23:43] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:23:51] Speaker 4: Lieutenant Thompson, where your vessel appears at that moment, at the 18th second, you're just, 13A is just to the left side of your vessel, is that right? Yes sir. Now, there's plenty of space between your vessel and the 13A channel marker. [00:24:39] Speaker ?: Yes sir. Continue, please. [00:24:42] Speaker 4: Stop it there. Now, at this point, just past the 13A channel marker, you are still within the Hunter Bank channel, is that right? Yes sir. And would you consider that your location of your vessel at that point is somewhere in the center of the Hunter Bank channel? Yes sir. Continue. Hold it there. And as your vessel is continuing now, that is, uh, more in line with the left side of the chair, is that right? Yes sir. Now, if there are no oncoming, there are no oncoming boats present in that, right? Yes sir. And that's because the area has been essentially quarantined by other police vessels. Is that right? Yes sir. [00:25:40] Tony DeWitt: Now, she doesn't make the rationale for her objection plain, because she's a good prosecutor, she's not going to use the speaking objection. If the judge has a question, she'll ask. But the judge understands what the objectionable part that is. That lieutenant wasn't out on the water on the water on the night of the crash. He has no personal knowledge of whether there was a boat out there or not. They don't believe there was another boat out there, and the investigation has pretty much revealed that. But if you're relying on the investigation or the investigation report, that is hearsay. So either way, he couldn't get that in with that question. [00:26:37] Speaker 4: Yes sir. And you are past channel marker 15 at that point. Correct? Yes sir. Now, you were able to avoid a line with channel marker 15, obviously. Correct? Yes sir. And the reason that you were able to avoid a line with this is because you are focused on the entirely on that channel. Correct. The very purpose that you were there was to conduct this experiment, if you will. Is that right? Yes sir. It's right now. Correct? Yes sir. And so that's all that you were focused on? Right? I'm going to focus on all my surroundings on the water, making sure I'm not going to hit any other channel markers, making sure the water depth is so good that my past years are safe. I'm not just focused on that green marker. Sure. But because you were completely focused, as you said, on all of these things, you were able to approach that channel marker 15 at close to or at the same rate that Mr. Pino was able to, that Mr. Pino approached that, but you managed to avoid colliding with it, correct? Yes sir. And that's because you saw it in front of you. Yes sir. Correct. And you saw it even before you got to the channel mark yourself. Is that fair to say? Yes sir. And you were able to make the decision as you said, as you said, on all of these things, you were able to approach that channel marker 15 at close to or close to or at the same rate that Mr. Pino was able to, that Mr. Pino approached that, but you managed to avoid colliding with it, correct? Yes, sir. And that's because you saw it in front of you? Yes, sir. Correct. You saw it even before you got to general Arkansas. Is that fair to say? Yes, sir. And you were able to make the decision as you got closer to it, or in your case, you turned slightly to the left in order to avoid the collision, right? Yes. And but for the fact that you were not distracted by the Pino in Hellas, you were able to safely get around channel Arkansas 15, correct? Yes, sir. [00:28:24] Tony DeWitt: Okay, so you understand what's going on here. The earlier testimony set up the fact that he was, that George was worried about the people behind him, and he had turned around to look at them, and he wasn't focused on the boat, the boat's path at that moment. And that's, I mean, it may appear to be a reasonable excuse for what happened, but a boater is required, just the way an automobile driver is, to keep a careful lookout at all times. And lookout means in the direction of travel that you're going, because you really don't care where you've been. You care where you're going. And, I mean, he's making the point, in this instance, that the only reason he was able to avoid that is because he was paying attention. Well, the, if we're going to conduct this under real life conditions, maybe the lieutenant should have had a couple of beers before he went out there. Well, I strongly suspect George had more than a couple of beers, but again, there's no evidence to that effect, and none of the people so far have testified that he was impaired. But, it does show a lack of judgment to drink and operate a 29-foot boat on the water, because one of the things that hasn't been mentioned here, even though the witness talked earlier about how you're on a platform that is a thousand times more dense than air, the way a car glides along it, it's just pushing against air, but here, it's pushing against water, it's a thousand times more dense than air. The problem is, not only is it more dense than air, you don't have brakes like you do on a car. Basically, the only thing you can do is reverse your engines and try hard to stop in that manner. But, no matter what you do, you are not going to be able to stop as efficiently as you would be in a car. So, that's one of the reasons why a careful lookout is so much more important on a boat even than on a car. But, I think we'll probably hear a lot more about that when the expert testifies on Monday, and I think we can leave that here. I thought it was an interesting cross-examination, even if parts of it were ineffective. Particularly the part where he's telling, you know, George really kind of lied to you, didn't he? And indeed, it appears that George either intentionally lied or was mistaken because of a head injury. But, I don't think a head injury was ever officially diagnosed. It certainly hasn't been introduced as a medical record to show that. And if it is, well, that will certainly buttress their argument. But, a lot of times, brain injuries don't show up in initial cursory evaluations at emergency rooms. Because they don't do a full CT scan, they don't do all of that if someone just maybe has a slight concussion. So, whether or not there was a concussion, you know, diagnosed, we'll have to wait and see. This is shaping up to be an interesting case, both from physical science part of the deal to the medical science part of the deal. And, on Monday, the expert is, I think, going to testify, assuming that our counsel here has completed his cross-examination of Lieutenant Thompson. So, that's what I have for you today. Thank you so much for being here. Catch me again tomorrow. Catch me again tomorrow. Thanks for watching my video. I really appreciate it. And, today, as you go about your business, would you try to do just one kind thing for somebody? It doesn't have to be a big thing. You can open a door for somebody who has their arms full. You could buy somebody a Coke. You could let the manager know when somebody did a really good job for you at the grocery store or at Walmart or someplace else. There are all kinds of things we can do to make people's lives better. And, a lot of times, people will always remember to go to the manager and complain. They very seldom remember to go to the manager and say, "Hey, you know, that guy over there in produce is top notch." And, I think it's really important to do that. Because, I want to make the world a better place. I know you're here, probably, because you want to make the world a better place. So, let's do that. Now, let's be respectful of one another. And, thank God we live in the greatest country in the free world. I do think that the good folks at YouTube have a few things they want to show you up here that you might be interested in. And, if you are, I'd appreciate you clicking. Thanks. Have a great day.