Trial in Pino boat crash set for next summer — and judge wants to keep it that way

The trial date of Doral real estate broker George Pino — the operator of a boat that crashed in Biscayne Bay and killed a teen girl and severely injured her classmate in 2022 — will start next summer, barring something “extraordinary and unforeseeable,” the judge said in a Friday morning hearing.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez urged prosecutors and defense attorneys to be prepared for Pino’s trial to start on June 1, 2026. Tinker Mendez indicated that she wants to avoid any changes to the trial date.

Pino, 54, is charged with manslaughter and vessel homicide, a nearly identical second-degree felony charge that also carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

READ MORE: Pino pleads not guilty to new manslaughter charge in fatal boat crash case

Both charges stem from the death of 17-year-old Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez, who was trapped under Pino’s 29-foot boat when he slammed into a concrete channel marker in Biscayne Bay on Sept. 4, 2022, the Sunday night of Labor Day weekend. He and his wife were celebrating their daughter’s 18th birthday and had taken 11 of her girlfriends on the boat for a day at Elliott Key.

Lucy, who had just started her senior year at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, died the next day in the hospital. Her classmate , Katerina “Katy” Puig, captain of Lourdes soccer team, was severely brain injured and is still regaining basic motor skills three years after the crash. She’s now 20.

During the hearing, Mark Shapiro, one of Pino’s attorneys, said the defense is still questioning witnesses in the case. Shapiro asked Tinkler Mendez about the proposed trial schedule.

Jury selection should take a week, Tinkler Mendez said. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin June 8.

Lead prosecutor Laura Adams did not attend the proceeding due to a medical procedure, although another prosecutor appeared on her behalf.

New felony charges after Herald investigation

In 2023, Pino was initially charged with three careless boating misdemeanors in the crash. After the Herald published a series of investigative articles detailing how the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state agency that investigates fatal boating accidents, never interviewed key eyewitnesses, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office reopened the case. The eyewitnesses — boaters who were on the scene immediately after the crash, before first responders — contradicted several key aspects of the FWC report.

After the Herald published the eyewitness accounts, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medic came forward, telling prosecutors that Pino appeared intoxicated when he pulled him from the water after the crash. The FWC did not conduct a sobriety test on Pino the night of the crash, saying it did not have probable cause, even though its officers are trained to get a warrant for a blood test when a person refuses to submit to one.

The FWC officers are also trained on how to get a blood test in boating accidents with serious or fatal injuries without a warrant, citing “exigent circumstances.” The officers didn’t do this, even though a Miami-Dade police officer on the scene strongly suggested they do so, according to a Herald review of the officer’s pre-trial testimony.

READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl

The medic’s statement led prosecutors to reexamine the case, ultimately dropping the misdemeanors and charging Pino with the two felonies, vessel homicide and manslaughter.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 27.

Grethel Aguila

Miami Herald

Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.