Prosecutors Replay Deadly Boat Crash Aftermath in Closing Arguments

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. [00:00:03] Speaker ?: Good morning. [00:00:06] Speaker 1: About three weeks ago, you all came into this courtroom not knowing what kind of case you might be selected to serve on the jury. Where do you keep your voice up? Yes, sir. About three weeks ago, you all came into this courtroom and you sat through the jury selection process. Without any idea what kind of a case you were going to maybe be selected to sit in and listen to. No doubt, this has not been an easy case for anyone in this courtroom, but everyone in this courtroom owes each of you a true debt of gratitude for your service, for your attention, and for your thoughtfulness throughout this process. I want to talk with you all a little bit about what I said to you at the very beginning of this trial. I told you that this is a case about responsibility and accountability. Now that you've heard all the evidence in this case, you can see that this defendant is a man who abdicated all responsibility as the captain of a ship owes to each one of his passengers. Now, done safely, of course, boating can be a lot of fun, and we know that. Look at the pictures that we have. We have so much of this in this case. We have a photo. You all saw the photograph that Andy Fernandez took from his boat, looking across to the defendant's boat. Where the teenagers are on the boat, they're in the water. What a great time. What a special day. That photograph was taken because Andy Fernandez was taken with how special it was that his teenage daughter said, Mom, Dad, come on out to the sandbar. He really didn't want to. Thank God he did. Thank God he did. When boating is done safely, what a wonderful thing to do. But when people like this defendant do not take seriously their responsibility to their own passengers and to other boaters and passengers that might be in the area, disaster and catastrophe can happen. And though it may seem obvious, I wanted to highlight for you in this trial that boat crashes are a lot different than car crashes. When you're on a boat, you're basically like someone in the back of a pickup truck. On boats, you don't have the benefit of brakes, not even anti-lock brakes. You don't have seatbelts. You don't have a steel cage surrounding you to protect you from impacting other objects. There's no airbags. And if, God forbid, something should happen and you fall out of that boat, you jump out of that boat, you're ejected from that boat. You run the risk of drowning, even if the injuries that you sustained weren't that serious. I didn't know that to be true because that's exactly what happened to Lucy Fernandez. Now, in this case, you have evidence beyond any reasonable value that this defendant disregarded basic navigational rules and concepts of safety. And he did so in a manner that made it a near certainty that tragedy would result. This tragedy, the death of Lucy Fernandez, was completely preventable. But out of this abdication of duty that this defendant owed to his own daughter, to his wife, and to those 11 other teenage girls, these 13 other souls that were on his boat, what did he do? He lied over and over and over again about what happened. Why? To shift the blame away from himself and in an avoidance of accountability. That's why I told you at the beginning of this case, this is a case about responsibility, or the lack thereof, and accountability, and the complete lack thereof. So let's talk about what was happening on that Sunday. It's Labor Day, it's this game day. There's a little more boat traffic out there than usual because it's a holiday weekend. The defendant and his wife decide they're hosting a birthday celebration that weekend for their daughter, who is going to be 2018. That morning, some of the girls watching the masks on TV, we're talking still back in 2022, we're just kind of starting to come out of the pandemic. After that, pickleball tournament, sponsored by the defendant. The girls defend tennis, pickleball, what a fun day. Knowing that the next thing they're going to do is go out to Billy's Point, go out to that sandbar. So, everybody boards George Pino's boat to go party at the sandbar. And boy, what a party that was going to be, huh? They brought food, sure. The defendant's wife said, oh yeah, and my husband packed the drinks. Ooh, what drinks? Beer. Alcoholic seltzer. Prosecco. Shambord. Not just for the Pinos. For everybody. The kids, other people that they're going to meet up with. What a great time for these teams, huh? How irresponsible. But, get up to the sandbar, and what happens? Well, the defendant going out to that sandbar, you heard from Paul Albert, navigational expert, GPS expert. That when he went out to the sandbar, he goes relatively at a mild pace, not really at a breakneck speed. And he kind of meanders in and out of the channel, which Mr. Albert told you is consistent with, you know, navigating around other boats, things of that nature. Until they get to where they're going to drop anchor. But they don't stay there because one of the other boats, as Mr. Fernandez told you, was too big to drop anchor there. So, they go a little bit further north, and that's where they all stop. And they're there for almost three hours. What are they doing? People are drinking. They're socializing. They're swimming. They're listening to music. They're dancing. A lot of these 17-year-old girls were drinking alcohol that the defendant provided. You heard from Cammy, the first passenger who testified in this trial. [00:07:49] Speaker ?: She had consumed ten alcoholic beverages. Ten! [00:07:57] Speaker 1: I submit to you that as the fun and the drinks were flowing, the defendant kind of lost track of time. And he suddenly realizes, oh my goodness, it's getting to be close to 6.30. I'm going to get all these people back to Ocean Reef. And everybody's got to get fixed up, slammed up for the party. Now, we're here to testimony that the house that they were stationed at was like a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house. Conservatively speaking, that means four girls per bathroom getting ready for the party that he had spent almost $2,000 for. So, it makes sense that the GPS data that Mr. Alvarez showed us on the way back, he's making a beeline. He's not making all those track points. He's not deviating from course. He's in the mindset of life. Set it and forget it. Get back to Ocean Reef as quickly as you can. So, literally, with a boat full of buzzed teenagers, if not drunk teenagers, this man decides to set a course heading to that channel. A channel that he has gone through time and time again. A channel he knows where those workers are. In a boat that there's a stipulation between the state and the defense and agreement, the boat is in fine working condition. There's nothing wrong with that boat. So, with that boat, with those 10 girls at the bow of that boat, with an extra 1,000 pounds on that boat, at the front of that boat, he makes a beeline. And you've heard from Mr. Alvarez. In order to reach the speeds that we see from the GPS, with that amount of weight on the boat, he was going full throttle. Full throttle with all these teenagers on board that have been consuming alcohol as fast as he can through a narrow channel. Because if other boats want to go through that channel, if he's in the wrong way, then they've got nowhere to go. Because if they go outside the channel, he'll run around. So, with all of that going on, he decides to travel down the wrong side of the channel as fast as he can. [00:10:36] Speaker ?: We know that right before impact, he's going 47 miles per hour. [00:10:44] Speaker 1: Now, it's kind of a silly thing, but I think most people have seen folks, you know, driving the cars and put their hand out the windshield or out the window and kind of feel the air over your arms. We take for granted in driving that it's not that fast because we have windshields. But if you didn't have that windshield, if you were on a nice paved road, if you were on a bumpy road, 47 miles an hour is lightning fast. And the reason why you saw those reenactments is because we wanted you, in a safe a way, but as realistic a way as possible, to understand the manner in which that man decided to operate this boat. Now, I talked about the teens that were buzzed. The defendant, for sure, consumed alcohol. The defense would have you believe that it was only the two beers that the defendant told Lieutenant Thompson. I'm going to submit to you that maybe the evidence suggests that just as he wasn't exactly truthful about how the crash happened, maybe he also wasn't so truthful about how much alcohol he had consumed. This defendant knew the channel, he knew that vessel, he knew the people on the vessel, he knew what they'd been doing on that vessel. Yet, he chose, before this impact happened, to put his vessel on a heading five degrees to port, five degrees to the east. And that put him on a collision course with channel marker 15. And sure enough, by the time he realizes, oh no, it's too late. How did this crash happen, I tell you. Because he was reckless. He was criminally negligent. No one but this defendant captained that boat. No one but this defendant decided the speed that it should travel. And no one but this defendant decided the direction of travel. No one and nothing is responsible for the death of Lucy Hernandez. Except for that man sitting right there. He is the reason why he is dead. [00:13:23] Speaker ?: Let's talk about that journey a little bit more. [00:13:43] Speaker 1: In these photos, states 3 and 10, which are in evidence. We see in number 10, a bunch of young girls having a great time. In number 3, we see that photograph that Andy Fernandez took. What a fun, happy day. [00:14:03] Speaker ?: Is there a horse? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [00:14:40] Speaker 2: Thank you. [00:15:10] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit with the little flowers. Let's listen. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:15:28] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:15:54] Speaker 2: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:08] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:11] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:13] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:16] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:18] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:20] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:23] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:16:45] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:17:28] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:17:29] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:17:48] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:18:14] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:18:18] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:18:38] Speaker 2: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:18:40] Speaker ?: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. [00:18:56] Speaker 1: This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. This person right here, in the white bathing suit. Okay, so if that impact is, let's say we have, you know, four seconds left. What's four plus nine? Oh, that would be great to know. Why was I asking that? Because what we know, from the GPS reconstruction of this crash. That nine seconds prior to impact. The defendant chose to change the heading of his vessel. Slightly to the left, or the number comes to the left. And when he made that choice. That's when he put himself, and all of those teenagers. On a path toward near certain tragedy. He was the one that made that choice. And for nine seconds, they were on that path. And you know, you'd say, oh, you know, nine seconds. How long happened? Well, we can use technology. To tell us just how long nine seconds is. I have my iPhone here set. For nine seconds. Ready. Set. Go. That's a long time to not look at what you're going to be in front of me now. [00:20:55] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:07] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:09] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:27] Speaker 2: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:29] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:33] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:36] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:21:45] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:22:16] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:22:24] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:22:39] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. [00:22:40] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:22:50] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:03] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:05] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:06] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:16] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:18] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:28] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:29] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:23:41] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:24:26] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:25:10] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:25:32] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:26:08] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:26:39] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:26:42] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:27:49] Speaker 1: I'm going to be in front of me. The girl in the white bathing suit with the little flowers. Who just a little while earlier have been singing and dancing with her best friends. From there, we know the testimony is that the police boat raced as fast as it could to the Elliott Key Harbor where a helicopter was waiting for her to try to get her to the hospital to save her life, the light that he endangered. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:29:19] Speaker ?: I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. I'm going to be in front of me. [00:30:39] Speaker 1: I talked with you before about that final track mark. Now is a good time to talk about it again. On the way up, we see him going northbound. Here he is coming south. Track point. Track point. From 6:37.19 to 6:37.28. Nine seconds. Straight. Had he not made the decision at 6:37.19 to make that turn to go to port the side of the channel. Number one, he wouldn't have been on the wrong side of the channel. Number two, he wouldn't have been on a collision course with channel lines. Number 15, which you know because you've seen it with your own eyes. It's fully visible from where that track point is. This last track point is the one that really tells on the defendant. It is only here when the channel marker, which is three feet by three feet, painted day-glow green at the top of a steel pole, that's the first time that he comes out of his stupor or whatever he's zoned out or checked out doing. That's when he realizes, oh my God. And that's when he tries to turn the course. But he can't. He's going too fast. He has too many people on the boat. He can't turn because boats don't turn on a dime. He can't turn to avoid the collision because boats are steered from behind. So when he makes that turn, what happens? He slams the starboard side of his boat right into that channel marker. So this tells you he's guilty. No responsible operator of a vessel would ever do this. And what's the result of the, I don't know, arrogance? The complete disregard? Nobody's saying he meant to hurt anyone. But just because you didn't need to cause something terrible, if what you're doing is likely to cause something terrible to happen, the law says you're responsible. There are consequences for your actions. Sadly, beyond sadly, the consequences of those actions are in States Exhibits 15 and 7. The healthy, happy, vivacious young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Goes from this to this. With her own father. Tearfully, but with controlled emotion. Telling you this. This was my Lucy. The defense would have you believe me. The defendant was terribly broken up. And I have no doubt. Nobody would be happy about this. But imagine, if Amanda is his first Christmas without their channel. And this is what's posted on Instagram. This is what they see in December 2022. Their daughter is barely cold in her grave. And this is what's posted. [00:34:40] Speaker ?: Responsibility. [00:34:40] Speaker 1: Accountability. [00:34:41] Speaker ?: And this is what's posted. [00:34:42] Speaker 1: Responsibility. Accountability. Accountability. Mr. Andy Fernandez told you when I asked him what he saw of his daughter. He looked up with all those twos. And his answer was, a parent's worst man. I don't want to unflip this thing, but I hate being so far from the church. [00:35:28] Speaker ?: You may have permission to do this again. I'm covered. [00:35:29] Speaker 1: So, I want to say, first and foremost, this is not a complicated case. The facts are not really difficult. And in fact, many of the facts in this case are not in dispute. But what is in dispute, for sure, is what level of accountability does this defendant have? In jury selection, the judge told you, bias, prejudice, simply have no place in your deliberations in that jury room. But your common sense, the evidence, photo of what the witnesses say, and the law, not the courts, common sense tells you that this defendant is guilty. Now, the defenseman through this tribe has tried to downplay the enormity of this defendant's recklessness and criminal negligence by saying, "It's just an accident." No, he's not. This defendant was in a rush because he had paid money for the party for his roles. The way he operated that boat with so many people that had been drinking when he had been drinking at a high rate of speed in a body of water that literally was called the I-95 of Biscayne Bay. Well, it establishes recklessness and culpable negligence. Why? [00:37:13] Speaker ?: For a party? [00:37:14] Speaker 1: Because he wanted to be the cool dad, the dad that brings alcohol out to the sandbar, the dad that plans the pickleball party, camp counselor George. He wasn't thinking about the navigational rules. He wasn't thinking about the well-being of the passengers. He wasn't thinking about the well-being even on his own wife and daughter when he was on that B-line to get back to the ocean with the club. He was too wrapped up and trying to be the cool dad on a fast boat. He didn't mean to. It's not a defense. It's an excuse. Now, the judge is going to give you an instruction, and it's called excusable homicide. Common sense tells you that just because one person causes the death of another person, that in and of itself doesn't necessarily make it a criminal act. For example, the judge is going to read you an instruction. It's called introduction to homicide. And that instruction says that you have to consider whether or not the killing was lawful, whether it was justifiable or excusable. Now, of course, this is not a case of self-defense. But the law tells us that if there's a justified use of deadly force to defend a person, then that person will not be held criminally liable for that death. Common sense. Common sense also tells you that there can be accidents that happen, but there should be no criminal responsibility. And let me tell you what that instruction is. Excusable homicide. If the killing is committed by accident and misfortune, which nobody's saying he intended this to happen, and obviously this is most unfortunate, but doing any lawful act, was he operating his vessel lawfully when he was on the wrong side of the channel, going so fast, not keeping a proper lookout? Was he operating it lawfully when he's not avoiding the risk of a collision, when he doesn't even avoid the collision? No. And by lawful means, is this the way that we expect people to operate their vessels on the waters of this state? Of course not. With usual, ordinary caution. Was there one ounce of usual, ordinary caution as he's speeding from this trap point straight into that channel marker? Of course not. [00:40:10] Speaker 2: There's an objection in the motion. [00:40:13] Speaker 1: And without any lawful intent. Now, I'm not saying he had an intent to cause any harm, but his intent also was not to safeguard his own passengers. So when you hear this instruction, listen to it. Pay close attention to it. But then ask yourself, does the evidence support a claim that this is an excusable homicide? I submit to you the answer is a resounding no. The only analogy that I could give for people that don't really go on the water too much would be this. Imagine if a person decides to drive a pickup truck with 12 girls in the back. They're not restrained in any way. And that person is going down a rather bumpy road, not a smoothly paved road. Because even on the water on clear days, you're still bumping along that water. And that person who's driving that pickup truck with all those people in the back on a bumpy road, decides to drive on the wrong side of the road. And let's suppose that at the end of that road, it dead ends and there's a telephone pole at that dead end. And although no person who's driving the pickup truck can clearly see that telephone pole, at least if they're paying attention, for nine seconds, that person driving that pickup truck slams into that telephone pole. And one or more of the girls hurt badly, maybe even dies. Didn't mean to kill anybody. But are we really going to say that that is acceptable conduct? Are we really not going to hold somebody criminally liable when they have precious cargo on board and pay no attention to what's right in front of their face? Of course not. Your common sense tells you that's not the world that we live in. Those are not the laws that make sense. This was not an excusable homicide because the defendant was more worried about being the fun dad, the party dad, the cool dad, than he was worried about being responsible dad, safe dad. He created an environment by supplying that alcohol, by not managing how much those were to drinking, by drinking himself, out there on the water, having played pickleball earlier, been in the sun, in the salt water. He created the scenario where this happened. And that's why Lucy is dead. I know that the defense will have an opportunity to address you when I'm finished. And I have no doubt that they will say that they are very sorry that Lucy is dead. Nobody wanted that to happen. And I am sure that that is 100% heartfelt. But when you hear any kind of statement like that, I want you to keep your ears out for the inevitable, But, so sorry she's gone. But, what a tragedy she's gone. But, you know what the rest of that sentence is. It was only an accident. Accidents happen. Well, you know, this wasn't just an accident. An accident is if you accidentally blow through a stop sign and somebody gets into a death or death. This isn't blowing through a stop sign. This is blowing into the stop sign on the wrong side of the road when you've been drinking. It's not an accident. I want to take you back to when this defendant's wife took the witness stand. I asked her to show her Lucy's photograph. [00:44:56] Speaker ?: Right at this witness stand. [00:45:03] Speaker 1: She's sitting here and she's looking at this picture of a young person that she had known for Lucy's whole life. And in the same breath that she identifies this picture of Lucy, she tells you it was an accident. I made note of the exact back and forth exchange. This was me asking her, "Do you know how it is that your husband wound up smashing into channel marker 15?" Answer. The accident? How it occurred? How did he wind up crashing into it? I do not know. Me. Why not? Her. I was looking at my phone and trying to send a text to the moms. A video of the girls dancing. I was trying to send it to the moms. And I remember looking at the blue line and being upset that it wasn't going through the text. And I was looking at my phone. Me. I'm showing you a photo. Who is it? Her. [00:46:14] Speaker ?: Lucy. Me. [00:46:16] Speaker 1: And she died because your husband crashed into that channel marker. Right? Her. With the same breath that she had just identified this young woman, she has this to say. She died because there was an accident. What? How do you know it was an accident? You were too busy watching your cell phone. You were too busy drinking your Prosecco's and your Shambord out of Yeti tumblers to know what happened that day. But you want to take this witness stand under oath? And say that this was an accident? The expressions of sorrow for Lucy and her family mean nothing in this court of law. Because this is not a case to be decided on based on sympathy. Not for Lucy. Not for her family. Not for the other girls who went through this horrible traumatic experience. Not for the defendant's wife. And not for him either. It's not a case about who cried the loudest. Who held back the tears. It's a case about what is the facts. What is the law. That's why every day when we see you, Judge Tiegler-Mendez asks you the same series of questions. Have you paid attention to this case outside of this courtroom? Have you heard anything about it? Because truly, we need you to make this decision not based on sympathy, not based on what's out there in the inner web of it all. We need you to base your decision on what happened in this courtroom. The defense seems to want you to believe that the defendant didn't see the channel marker that is not responsible. If you didn't see it, it's because you weren't looking. What were you doing? Were you watching your wife as she's trying to get these text messages out to the other parents? Were you looking at your own phone? Were you drinking something? What were you doing? Sure as heck worth watching out for that neon green channel marker that you knew was there. And because of that inattention, his vote wound up upside down under the water. The defense also seems to be suggesting that, well, if he didn't mean for it to happen, he's not responsible. If he meant to kill Lucy, he'd be charged with murder. If he deliberately smashed into that channel marker, same thing. He'd be charged with murder. Why is the defense defending against a charge I never filed? The defense kept asking the girls that were on the vote who came and testified, and the defendant's wife. Did he look like he was impaired by alcohol? Well, I did not charge him with BUI voting under the influence manslaughter. You know what? I can't prove what his blood alcohol level was at the time he smashed into that channel marker. I can't prove beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt that he was impaired by alcohol at the time he smashed into that channel marker. So you know what? They didn't charge him with that offense. Again, why is the defense defending against something he's not even charged with? Now, we claimed to the police that he had two beers. Well, frankly, it seems like two beers might be a little bit under recording what he actually consumed. But I can't prove how much more than that he might have had. So we didn't charge him with BUI manslaughter. Think about how many times you may hear the defense say, "He didn't look impaired. He didn't look impaired." But who was it that was making this judgment, at least from the voting perspective? The teenagers and the defendant's own wife, all of whom have been drinking alcohol. And you think maybe people that have been drinking alcohol are not in the best position to say who did or didn't look like they were a little bit buzzed or more? And then that brings up another question for you all to consider. Why even drink beer at all when you're the captain, when you're responsible for all these lives? Gatorade, non-alcoholic seltzers, water, iced tea. Why do people drink beer? They drink it to get the buzzed. And Lieutenant Thompson told the defendant in this courtroom, "It's not per se against the law to have a beer and operate a boat. But if you do, drink and drive, or if you do, drink and operate a boat, better be really mindful." Because I think it's common knowledge that before somebody looks like they're stumbling down drunk, alcohol's already playing games with your brain. We all know that alcohol can make people maybe not such good decisions. It can maybe influence your ability to pay attention and to concentrate. But again, he's not charged with beer and wine. He's charged with being reckless. He's charged with being criminally negative. And the defense also brought up through the officers that see the defendant. Well, you didn't see any signs that he was impaired? Of course not. The police are seeing him some decent amount of time after the crash. Time after he'd been holding onto his boat, right? Time that he had to kind of clear his thoughts, be in the water, assess his surroundings. Time, the first passenger who testified, the one that told you she'd had 10 drinks. A 17-year-old with 10 drinks in her system snapped to it enough that she was able to help try to rescue Kathy, Mia. She said, I was buzzed when I got on that boat to go back to Ocean Reef. But being in that water and seeing the emergency situation sobered her up at least enough that she was able to do things like try to save her friends' lives. The friends that he endangered. So, you know, to say that by the time the police see the defendant, he doesn't look like any signs of vacancy impairment, that's just the function of time, adrenaline, and being in an emergency situation. For sure, the defendant knew, in the moment after this wreck, this was not good seamanship. This goes beyond, not just following navigational rules, this goes beyond anything like that. This is criminal conduct. And that's why he couldn't wait when he's brought to Elliott Key Harbor and Lieutenant Thompson just wants to ask him about, hey, where do you keep your boat? Do you have a trailer for your boat? Because he's saying, I have to get this boat out of the water. And what does the defendant do? He's so anxious to blame somebody else, that lack of accountability, that he starts answering and you can listen to the tape yourself. Because you'll have the jump drive with all of this defendant's statements to Lieutenant Thompson. And what you'll hear and see is that in those moments when the lieutenant is just coming up to him and asking him, hey, do you have a trailer for your boat? Where do you house your boat? He's talking about, oh, there was this other boat coming in the opposite direction. Thompson is not even listening to that. He's like, whatever. And he keeps going back and asking, where do you keep your boat? Then he finally gets the information that the lieutenant wants. He's still gathering on about some other boat. Then, when he sits down to the lieutenant at that picnic table, he builds on that line. And he starts giving more details about this phantom boat that came along. He's giving his Miranda rights. He's told anything you say can be used against you in court. He doesn't care. He still wants to get that line out. And under oath, he signed a written statement. It was the other boat's fault. But he didn't stop that night. He was untruthful to his attorney. You heard from his attorney twice in this case. I called him the first time just to explain what interrogatories were and that, in fact, both the defendant and his wife signed these interrogatories, answering questions under oath about what happened. But then he was called back a second time by the defense. He said he couldn't say enough great things about George Pino and how he wanted to settle things with the Puigs as fast as he could. But then I brought out the fact that, oh, really interesting. Because within six months, you had filed a motion to limit his liability. And you had also filed a motion to dismiss claims of their lawsuit. And you had also filed a motion to dismiss claims of their lawsuit. Okay, this is not a civil case. And the only reason why any of that is relevant is because it shows the persistence of the lie. That he not only lied to the police, he lied to his own lawyer, who then took those lies and incorporated them into legal pleadings. And he wasn't just lying to his lawyer. He was lying to the court system. He was lying to the family of Kati Puig in answering those questions in the way that he did. Because he was so desperate to avoid accountability. Why? Because he knew this was not just an accident. People don't lie about accidents. If that's not, you say, ah, my God, I didn't see the stops. I should have stopped. I'm so sorry. But this was so much more. That's why he lied to the court system, lied to his lawyer, lied to the Puig's lawyer, and the Puig's themselves. A family that his family had known for years. Now, with that, the Puig said, I want to make it clear. He's not charged with perjury. The only relevance of those lies is to show that he knew. He had a consciousness of guilt. Because anyone that has as much experience as he has on the water knows there's no excuse on earth to justify the way he operated that mode. And, you know, it's kind of stunning behavior from the man whose wife described him as, oh, he was like the one for Camp George, right? He was the father who wanted his children to get the best education. That's from his wife. He was the father that wanted to instill in his children an understanding of right from wrong. That sometimes actions have consequences and that it's important to take responsibility for your actions. That's what she said he taught his daughters. To try to explain away all these lies. The defense called Dr. Diana Barrett. A concierge neurologist who saw the defendant twice, watched a video of him, heard some things that he said, and did work to do one thing and one thing only. Answer questions posed by the defense. Did he have a traumatic brain injury, a TBI? Could it cause amnesia and/or false memories without the intent to deceive? And how long would those false memories last? And she got about $30,000 to do that. And she got about $30,000. [01:00:21] Speaker ?: And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. And she got about $30,000. [01:00:50] Speaker 1: This is the witness that the defense relied on. A woman who is in private practice and won't accept insurance from patients who may need her care. Pretty far cry from the woman that used to do work for Camilla's house. A woman who just took her marching orders from the defense to answer three self-serving questions. She said the MRI that she had been given didn't matter. The Montreal cognitive test that she gave didn't matter. During my cross-examination of her, she had to admit there was no test that she could give to the defendant. No test to prove that he had amnesia or created false memories without the intent to deceive. She had to admit when I asked her about the defendant's blastocoma scale. It doesn't mean you're in a coma, but that is a tool that EMS firefighters, paramedics use to assess a person's level of consciousness. I said to her, after I introduced the fire rescue report for this defendant, what was he assessed that night, September 4th of 2022? What was his Glasgow Coma scale? Fifteen. What's the highest possible Glasgow Coma scale? Fifteen. Every single one of our jurors, every single attorney in this courtroom, fifteens. She admitted that the defendant simply got seven staples in his head to close the wound, and he was released from the hospital the very next day. She admitted she hadn't even laid eyes on the defendant until this past February, about three and a half years after the crash. And she admitted that the defendant told her the only treatment he'd received was in therapy and psychiatric medications, and I'm not putting that stuff down. But that is not indicative of a person that had a traumatic brain injury such that he's confabulated like a person with dementia would. Well, I'll tell you what she did not want to admit. I asked her, last thing when she was on the witness stand, "Dr. Barrett, let me make sure I understand. You were hired to evaluate the defendant's memory surrounding the crash, but you never asked him what he remembered of the crash. It's a simple yes or no question. Yes, I did. No, I didn't. But you know that the answer is no, she didn't ask him. And she kept wiggling around. Well, you know, I didn't think that that would be important. No, no, no, no, no. Let me ask again. And note this, when the judge reads you the instructions, one of the instructions I'm going to ask you, "Was the witness honest and straightforward in answering the attorney's questions?" I've said to her again, "No, Dr. Barrett, I want to ask you again." You were there to assess his memory of the crash, but you never asked him what he remembered of the crash. Ultimately, she kind of says no, but you know the answer is no. Because if she had, she would have said yes. Here's what he told me. She didn't want to admit what a tremendous lack of expertise went into that $30,000 that she confirmed. I don't blame her. That's her choice. But you should consider her credibility when you think about the fact that she didn't ask something that basic. She told you, she based her decision that he had amnesia and, how did she say it, false memories, without the intent to deceive, based on just these four things. Who sat behind him. He couldn't remember which two girls were behind him. What the horsepower of his engines were. He said 225, they were 300. That he couldn't remember exactly what happened right after impact. And that he said that it was Nazi that he recovered under the boat, not Lucy initially. But you know there's an explanation for that, that she wouldn't have known, but you know. When the defense called Hamlet Rodriguez, he was one of the good Samaritans that gets to the scene. We know that Hilary Candela, who was friendly with the defendant and knew the police and knew the Fernandez family. When Hilary Candela gets there, he might have to yell from the witness stand, which I know seems weird to yell in court. But he yells to show you, George, if you don't go down under there, I'm going to do it. That's got to be about the time when Hamlet Rodriguez is getting there. Because Hamlet says when he's yelling at him to go under the boat, the defendant does go under the boat. But what does Hamlet Rodriguez tell us that Hilary doesn't see? The defendant grabs a girl from under the boat. And does he take her to another good Samaritan vessel? Nope. He passes her off to Hamlet Rodriguez. And he's the one, he told you, who takes Lucy to the boat where you just saw the video. Where people are doing CPR, where the Marine Patrol gets, puts her on the backboard, gets her onto the go fast police boat to get her to the harbor. So it makes sense that the defendant, in just those brief moments that he has of passing Lucy's body, maybe he didn't really take a good look at her. So all four of those things, he couldn't remember who was behind him. Even Dr. Barrett said, I kind of can understand that. Why are you looking behind you if you're going forward? The 225 versus 300 horsepower? Okay, whatever. You got to detail it on. Not remembering exactly what happened right after the fact. Totally understandable. This was a terrifying thing for everyone, I'm sure, including the defendant. And then the fact that initially he said that he thought it was Nazi, but then he realized, oh, no, no, no, it was Lucy? That's what she based the amnesia and the false memories without intent to deceive. But what I want to propose to you is that you don't need an expert witness. Maybe look at the totality of circumstances and say, no, this wasn't a false memory without an intent to deceive. This was a false statement made exactly with an intent to deceive. When he said the other boat caused the crash. It was a false statement and it was intended to deceive. And I submit to you if he was willing to give a false statement with an intent to deceive about how the crash happened, maybe he was also willing to give a false statement with an intent to deceive about how much beer he had at that sandbar. They can't prove it. So they didn't charge it. So why are they defending against them? During this trial, you've heard the defense try to blame a number of different things in this case. Blame the sun, right? Maybe the sun kept him from being able to see the channel marker. But Mr. Albert told you that at the defense request overnight after he had testified and I had arrested my case, he did some calculations and he saw based on the NOAA Oceanic Atmospheric, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, based on their data. He knew that at the time that that second to last track point was, the sun would have been to the defendant's right hand side. The sun isn't blinding him from seeing the channel marker, so forget that. The defense attorney says to Detective Dow, the drone operator, "Oh, well, this photograph, the water looks green. The channel marker is green. Maybe the channel marker wasn't so visible." First off, Detective Dow was like, "No, no, actually, that's just a function of the not-so-great printing of this photograph." Plus, when you're higher up, the water looks more green, but when you're closer, which you guys can see from the videos, the water's blue. You really think the Coast Guard didn't take into account, "Hmm, let's make the channel markers as hard to see as possible." So that doesn't work. Oh, remember they also asked, "Hey, could channel marker 13A, the one before channel marker 15, could that have blocked the defendant's view of channel marker 15?" Mr. Albert, who, in contradiction to Dr. Bear, Mr. Albert said, "I did that extra work. I'm not charging anybody for it. That's integrity." And what Mr. Albert said, in answer to the defense attorney's question, is that the only way that channel marker 13 blocks channel marker 15, if you're so far back, you wouldn't be able to see channel marker 15 anyway. So that excuse doesn't work. The defense talks about, "Well, but if you zoom in on the chart plotter, it looks like maybe the channel marker is a little bit further off." And that's when, I was kind of hokey, but it illustrated the point. I grabbed my iPhone, and I showed you all a picture of the Mona Lisa. And if you zoom, zoom, zoom in on the picture, it doesn't look like it's the Mona Lisa anymore, even though it is. And that's exactly what they did with the GPS screen. Then, they come in and try to say, "Oh, it's the girls' arms. They're singing and dancing." But I asked Claudia Porto Carrera, who was the first girl in the defense, called as a witness. Okay, you guys were singing and dancing. You've seen the video. But at the time, you're going almost 50 miles an hour, facing backwards on bumpy water. Like, in those moments before the crash, were you guys standing up? Were you guys waving your arms around? No, of course not. Because who's going to be doing that, unrestrained, in the front of a boat? It doesn't make any sense. So that excuse doesn't work. And then, this might be my favorite, the tides. It was high tides, so maybe the sign wasn't visible. As if the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard, isn't aware of the fact that tides rise, tides lower. And they're going to take that into account when they're placing channel markers that are there to keep voters and passengers, everybody on the water safe. So none of these excuses hold up. When this trial began, with jury selection, you all were instructed by the judge that this defendant is presumed innocent. And each and every one of you said you can abide by that presumption. Had you not, you would not be here. We live in a country, we are blessed to live in a country, where people do not have to presume their innocence. That's not how it is everywhere in the world. Here, the government accuses you of something. The government better have the evidence to back up those allegations. Now, there's an instruction that the judge is going to give to you. That while the defendant is presumed innocent at the beginning of the trial, that presumption of innocence can be overcome if the prosecution does two things. To overcome the defendant's presumption of innocence, the state must prove, one, that the crime or crimes that he's charged with were committed. And two, that the defendant committed those crimes. So I'm going to take a little bit of time now to go over those crimes, the evidence, and what the law is. To try to give you a roadmap for when you go back into the jury room that you can follow to come to the correct and legal and wise verdict. So first, the defendant committed the crimes. That's basically a way of saying, is the right person charged in this case? There is no testimony that anyone other than that defendant operated that vote. Cammy said it. Harrow said it. Claudia said it. Natty said it. His own wife said it. He said it himself in the statements to Lieutenant Thompson. He said it in the interrogatories. So, there was nobody else operating that vote. So, we're already basically halfway there. Let me grab this thing. We're already halfway there to Guilty Bird. Because we've established, without any question, he's the person at the helm of that vessel. He was the captain of that ship. So, now we've just got to look at, did I prove the crimes of manslaughter and vessel homicide? And although the judge is going to instruct you first about manslaughter and then vessel homicide, I just want to go over with you the kind of vessel homicide first. The elements for vessel homicide are simple. First, that Luciana Cristina Fernandez is dead. You know she is. Second, that the death was caused by the operation of a vessel by George I. Pena. Nobody but this defendant operated that vessel. And third, that he operated the vessel in a reckless manner, likely to cause the death of or great bodily harm to another person. The instruction tells you the defendant to be guilty of that crime does not have to have intended to harm anyone. So, why would the defense say, well, he didn't mean it? [01:15:36] Speaker ?: Of course not. [01:15:37] Speaker 1: But if he meant it, he wouldn't be charged with these offenses. He'd be charged with something else. The judge will tell you that recklessness is more than just failure to use regular care. She will tell you that recklessness can take place in two different forms. I'm going to suggest to you both are present in this case. First, that the acts are done in a willful way. Willful doesn't mean you will Lucy Fernandez to die. But willful means you deliberately set the course, set the speed. You deliberately operated that vessel. This vessel was not on autopilot. He was the one making the decisions. Were they wise decisions? No. Did he intend the consequences of the decisions? No. But he is the one that steered the boat. He's the one that decides how fast it goes. That makes this conduct willful. Also, she will tell you that recklessness can result from what's known as wanting behavior. What is wanting? It is a conscious and intentional indifference to the consequences. Right? Not that you want those consequences, but you're not paying attention to what the consequences might be. And that damage is likely to be done to persons or property. When you set your vessel on a course and then are basically flying blind for as long as nine seconds into a channel marker that you know is there, that's a wanting disregard for the safety. So, did he intend the outcome? No. Did he intend the death? No. Did he intend the channel marker? No. But did he intend to change course? Did he intend to be operating a toll throttle? The answer to that is yes. And that's what endangered everyone on his vessel, including yourself. What witness tells you that? What witness tells you how fast he was going and what direction he was traveling? You know the one. I told you about the beginning of this trial. The witness that didn't have a voice. The witness that had the perfect memory. The witness that isn't influenced by bias, prejudice, sympathy, money or power. The witness is GPS. The GPS, that track point that I showed you. It tells you everything you need to know about this defendant's recklessness. And the person who testified about that GPS data, Mr. Albert. He says to you at great length, at my prompting, about his training and his experience. That his day job is a lieutenant in the Internal Affairs Division, the town of Palm Beach Police Department. He tells you about his years and years of experience in police work. Both with that agency, as well as with Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission. He tells you about the years and years that he's been over. Since he was a kid. And he tells you about the years and years of experience and training he has in GPS, which ironically just stems from his love of fishing. He recalled and told me I had to start learning how to use GPS so I could find my favorite fishing poles. And I know that testimony might have seemed a little bit dry. But it was really important for you all to understand the quality of the witness that he is. With all that law enforcement and personal experience in voting. With all the training and experience he's had in interpreting and analyzing GPS data to the point where now he's a senior trainer at the NAS block. I can't remember what it stands for. That's how good he is at what he does. And it was important for you to understand that we're not getting into junk science. And so what he went through with you, step by step, and you have all those track marks. You can look at them in the jury room. Of how the defendant meandered his way up to the sandbar. But then was like zooming back. When he's telling you this is how fast that vessel was traveling and this is the direction it took. And he had to be the one to make the choice to go that fast and to head in that direction. That's all the proof you need to know that this was reckless. And so when you go back in the jury room and you have the verdict form in front of you. As to the crime of whether or not the defendant committed vessel homicide for operating his vote recklessly. The verdict is guilty. So as to the offense of vessel homicide, I submit to you that that charge is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If there was no one else on the defendant's vote but his wife. And if he had followed that path that the note took. And if she had wound up dead. Forget about the other kids. Forget about the alcohol. Forget about all of that. Just the manner in which he operated that boat. Head on into a channel marker that was easily visible. That he knew was there. And disregarding anything around him. To just fly into it. He's guilty of vessel homicide. But the thing is, you can't ignore all of these other factors that were in play that afternoon. You can't ignore the fact that he had brought the alcohol. That those kids had unlimited access to it. That he wasn't moderating anybody's drinking. He's drinking. He has a boat full of vulnerable teenagers. Who are not going to probably be at their very best if God forbid something should happen. He made the choice to be consuming alcohol. He made the choice to be operating his boat through I-95 of Biscay and Bay. As fast as it could go. And so when the judge reads you the instruction for manslaughter. She's going to read you the definition of what culpable negligence is. Manslaughter can be proven in this case in one of two different ways. And just like I said, we've proven both aspects of being reckless. I'm going to submit to you, we've proven both aspects of manslaughter. And this is why. First, you can be guilty of manslaughter if you commit an intentional act. Even if you don't need to cause death. But your intentional act causes a death. That's manslaughter. And the importance of Mr. Albert's testimony is because those track points are dropped when direction is changed. And we know the speed of the vessel based on the distance it takes or the time it takes to travel a given distance. And we know that because he was traveling, accelerating for over nine seconds, that's not one of those speed spikes that I told you all that can happen if you're talking about very short distances. But this is a long distance over a relatively long period of time. So we know that he is intentionally committing acts, not with the intention of death, not with the intention of hitting the channel marker, but the intentional acts that he is engaged in do cause a death. That's manslaughter. But the other way that you can be guilty of manslaughter is if your actions, in their totality, result in death, if your actions meet the definition of culpable negligence. It's the judge's job to instruct you on the law, so I will wait for Judge Tinkler-Mendez to read to you the definition of culpable negligence. It's going to sound a lot, honestly, like the definition of recklessness, but it's a little bit more. And so he's charged, not just with the vessel homicide, because it wasn't just one person on board. It wasn't somebody who hadn't been consuming alcohol. It wasn't someone that didn't have a scenario where it's just his wife. This is a scenario where teenagers are on the level of danger that he exposed everyone to cries out for something more than just vessel homicide. And that's why he's also charged with manslaughter. And you may see to yourself, well, how can one person be charged with two different homicide charges if there's only one death? And the answer is because, yes, of course this is recklessness. So you can find him guilty of vessel homicide. But it's also, he committed an intentional act and he acted with culpable languages. And so to be as descriptive of what his conduct was on that September afternoon, he's charged with both crimes. And I suggest that the evidence in this case proves both those crimes beyond reasonable doubt. And then, if we go back to this, is the defendant's presumption of innocence overcome? I've proven these crimes were committed and that this defendant is the one who committed them. You will have access to all the videos, photographs. You will have access to the documents that are in evidence. There's a derogatory, the fire arrest report. All of that will be for you to review, to think about what the witnesses said, how they acted, who was believable and who was not. And I'm confident that when you do that in this case, you will find that the defendant is guilty both of manslaughter and assault. Thank you so much for your attention. I hope you'll give your same kindness and attention to opposing counsels. [01:26:15] Speaker ?: All right. [01:26:16] Speaker 1: Thank you, counsel. Just give me a moment. A message is over. [01:26:20] Speaker ?: Thank you. Hold the floor. Thank you. Thank you.