MIAMI — The trial continues Tuesday for South Florida real estate mogul George Pino who is accused of causing a boat crash in 2022 that killed a 17-year-old girl.
On Monday, the state rested its case after calling its final witnesses, as the defense asked Miami-Dade County Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez to throw out the case, saying the state failed to meet its burden of proof.
Tinkler Mendez said she would rule on the motion Tuesday morning.
Pino, 55, is facing manslaughter and vessel homicide charges in the death of 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez.
Prosecutors accuse Pino, then 52, of being reckless when he lost control of a 29-foot Robalo boat in the early evening hours of Sept. 4, 2022 and slammed it into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key, killing Fernandez. Two other girls were seriously hurt, including 17-year-old Katerina Puig, who was left permanently disabled.
Pino’s defense team counters that the crash was merely an accident and not the result of negligence.
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