Overview
- A six-member jury with four alternates was seated after a week of selection and the trial began its opening statements in Miami.
- Prosecutors told jurors Monday that investigators will show Pino sped up to 47 mph on the wrong side of a channel, struck a channel marker, and caused the boat to split, killing 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez.
- The defense says Pino never intended harm and will call witnesses to say he was not impaired, and it asked for a last-minute toxicologist that the judge declined to accommodate.
- Opening statements were suspended when Pino broke down in court, paramedics evaluated him at the judge’s direction, and the proceedings recessed before resuming the next scheduled day.
- The case centers on the human toll of the September 2022 crash—Fernandez’s death and passenger Katy Puig’s lifelong disabilities—and the trial will turn on witness accounts, toxicology evidence, and whether jurors find recklessness proved.