Pino had brain injury linked to false memories about boat crash, doctor testifies

During the boat crash that killed a 17-year-old girl, Doral real estate broker George Pino sustained a brain injury, which may have led him to have false memories associated with the crash, a doctor testified Wednesday morning.

Dr. Diana Barratt, a Boca Raton neurologist, testified that she evaluated Pino and determined he had a traumatic brain injury. Barratt, who is a concierge doctor, meaning she does not accept insurance and her patients pay her per month, walked the jury through the diagnostic criteria considered for traumatic brain injuries.

Barratt said she reviewed the investigative report, Pino’s emergency medical records and witness statements to determine whether Pino had a brain injury. Pino, she said, showed signs of traumatic brain injury: He was unconscious and had amnesia immediately following the crash.

Pino, 54, is on trial on charges of manslaughter and vessel homicide in the Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash in Biscayne Bay. Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez, 17, was killed, and Katerina “Katy” Puig, now 21, another passenger, was left with physical and neurological disabilities. Dozens of Lucy’s loved ones and Pino’s supporters packed both sides of the large courtroom.

Pino was taking his wife, Cecilia, their daughter and 11 of his daughter’s friends back to Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo that night from an afternoon outing on Elliott Key. The outing was to celebrate the daughter’s 18th birthday. There was a dinner planned at Ocean Reef at 9 p.m.

READ MORE: George Pino’s wife, more girls on boat testify for defense in deadly crash trial

Following the boat slamming into the channel marker, Pino made statements to first responders that indicated he had suffered from amnesia, including calling Lucy by another girl’s name. False memories, she said, are not unusual in a person with amnesia because they are struggling with their memory.

“They’re filling in the gaps with a false memory without the intention of deceiving people,” Barratt said.

The defense is using Barratt’s testimony to counter prosecutors’ contention that Pino lied about the cause of the crash to avoid accountability. Pino told investigators that he crashed because the wake of another boat cause him to lose control. He and his wife repeated those claims in a court filing in a civil suit brought by the Puig family.

No witness, including the passengers on Pino’s 29-foot Robalo or in other boats behind him, saw what prosecutor Laura Adams has called the “phantom boat.”

Adams peppered Barratt with questions about a host of comments Pino made to lead investigator Lt. William Thompson that were accurate:

At the time of the crash, the boat was heading toward the last marker in the channel. Pino said he was an experienced boater and had owned the Robalo since early 2020. He told the investigator that he, his wife and the girls were on the water celebrating his daughter’s birthday. And he also said that after the crash, his wife was on another boat with one of the teens.

Adams then questioned Barratt about how Pino’s brain scan was normal and didn’t show signs of trauma. The doctor said she administered a test to evaluate Pino’s memory but said did not ask him what he remembered about the crash.

The prosecutor also pointed out that Barratt was consulted three years after the crash and was paid almost $30,000 for her expertise.

Pino stared down Adams after cross-examination — and Adams stared back at him.

While on the witness stand Tuesday, Pino’s wife, Cecilia, was grilled about the statement she made in the filing. In the document, which was signed under penalty of perjury, Cecilia Pino said her husband crashed because the wake of another boat caused him to lose control. She then said her attorney Andrew Mescolotto wrote the response.

Mescolotto said Wednesday that he and an associate penned the response and that the Pinos adopted the statements when they signed the documents. The attorney said he obtained that information from Pino and other sources related to the investigation.

George Pino’s attorneys began presenting their case on Tuesday, calling to the stand his wife and two of the girls who were on the boat. Claudia Portocarrero and Natalia Reed, now both 21, recounted what they witnessed after the crash — and said the ride began like countless others they had been on as frequent boaters.

Pino’s wife also testified that she did not see whether her husband had been drinking while they were out on the sandbar. Cecilia Pino said she did not witness how the crash occurred because she was trying to send videos to the girls’ mothers at the time the boat rammed into the channel marker.

This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 12:29 PM.

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.