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Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Miami Herald
‘Katy continues to inspire.' City of Miami honors boat crash survivor still recovering
The City of Miami declared Thursday Katy Puig Day in honor of a young woman who continues to recover from catastrophic injuries she suffered in a Biscayne Bay boat crash almost three years ago. 'Katerina 'Katy' Puig is a courageous young woman whose unwavering spirit, resilience, and leadership have profoundly inspired the City of Miami,' the proclamation, signed by Mayor Francis Suarez, begins. The crash killed her close friend and 17-year-old classmate at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, and led to the charging of the boat's operator, Doral real estate developer George Pino, with felony vessel homicide. He has pleaded not guilty. Katy and Lucy were embarking on their senior year and looking forward to college when the crash happened. They were riding on Pino's boat with 10 of their friends on Sept. 4, 2022, when he crashed the 29-foot Robalo into a fixed channel marker at nearly 50 mph, ejecting everyone from the vessel. Lucy died the next day in the hospital. Katy, a star soccer player at Lourdes with Division-1 college prospects, now uses a wheelchair to get around. Then 17 and now 20, she suffered brain injuries and is in and out of physical therapy trying to regain motor skills. 'In the face of tremendous adversity, Katy has shown exceptional strength and perseverance — overcoming unimaginable challenges with grace, determination, and an unbreakable will to move forward,' reads the proclamation.
Miami Herald
02-07-2025
- Miami Herald
'None of us ever asked to be part of this kind of club.' Boat-crash families laud new law
The parents of the teenage girl who suffered brain damage in a boating accident that took the life of her classmate described the anguish of seeing their daughter, once a star soccer player, lying unconscious in a coma for months. 'We used to pray for her to open her eyes,' Rudy Puig said of his daughter, Katerina 'Katy' Puig. 'We used to pray for her to move her thumb. We used to pray for her to just be able to eat.' Rudy, Katy's mother Kathya Puig and Katy, now 20 and confined to a wheelchair, were among the people attending a ceremony Wednesday lauding a new state law that toughens penalties in serious boating accidents. 'Lucy's Law,' signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, made reckless operation of vessels resulting in serious injuries a felony, previously only a misdemeanor. The law, which went into effect July 1, was named after 17-year-old Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, who was embarking on her senior year at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy when she died in the Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash. Katy, 17, had been the captain of the Lourdes soccer team and was being recruited by Division 1 teams. READ MORE: DeSantis signs boater safety law named for Miami-Dade teen who died in 2022 crash Katy was one of three teenage girls who was found unconscious in the water after George Pino, a Doral real estate broker, crashed his boat into a concrete channel marker in Biscayne Bay on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Lucy, who was not breathing when she was pulled from the Bay, died the next day in the hospital. Katy had traumatic brain injury. Isabella Rodriguez, then 17, has since recovered. 'I am a miracle,' Katy told the Herald after the event at the Bayshore Club in Coconut Grove. 'I miss my angel [Lucy.]' The tragedy shook the tightly knit South Florida religious school community, as all 12 girls on board the 29-foot Robalo attended Lourdes, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart or Westminster Christian School. Pino and his wife Cecilia were celebrating the 18th birthday of their daughter Cecilia, who had invited 11 of her girlfriends on the excursion to Elliott Key. Lucy's father, Andres Fernandez, reflected on his family's loss and the challenges the Puigs face knowing their daughter will need a lifetime of care. 'None of us ever asked to be part of this kind of club, but here we are bound by heartbreak and purpose,' he said. Andres and his wife Melissa founded the Lucy Fernandez Foundation, a boater safety nonprofit, which hosted Wednesday's event. Families of other boat crash victims were also present. 'Lucy's Law' challenged an outdated mindset that 'dismissed… and treated preventable crashes of little more than unfortunate mishaps,' Melissa Fernandez said. To advocate for the change, Melissa said she had to repeatedly relive the worst day of her life, but she did so to honor Lucy's legacy. 'You're not preparing for the loss of a child, but to lose our daughter in such a preventable way, and to discover there would be no accountability,' she said. 'How can this be called justice?' Kathya Puig says Katy frequently says she wishes Lucy would be fighting alongside her. 'She's a fighter,' said Kathya, now divorced from Rudy. 'We have a better peace of mind…. I feel like this is going to save lives.' Rep. Vicky Lopez, a Coral Gables Republican who sponsored the bill and has called for an investigation into the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's handling of the criminal probe into the crash, said 'Lucy Law' was the most important legislation of her legislative career. READ MORE: FWC chair, Miami-Dade State Attorney texted about Pino boat crash, records show 'People deserve to know what happened that day, who's responsible for this terrible tragedy and to pay the consequences,' she said. 'Today's law will, in fact, ensure that both the Fernandezes and the Puigs get the justice they deserve.' The two families were outraged when Pino, after a yearlong investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was only charged with three careless boating misdemeanors by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Each charge carried a potential sentence of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. But after a series of Miami Herald articles detailed flaws in the investigation, including how FWC investigators never followed up with key eyewitnesses to the crash, a Miami-Dade firefighter at the scene came forward and told prosecutors Pino displayed signs of intoxication when he was pulled from the water. The FWC did not give Pino a sobriety test the night of the accident. The agency said it did not have probable cause to get a warrant to force Pino to take a blood-alcohol test. But law enforcement can cite exigent circumstances — usually an emergency like a death or serious injury — to bypass getting a warrant in such cases. READ MORE: Miami-Dade cop suggested FWC should do alcohol test at Pino boat crash scene, testimony shows The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office reopened its investigation and charged Pino, 54, with felony vessel homicide on Oct. 31. Pino pleaded not guilty and is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in September. If convicted, he would face up to 15 years in prison. During the ceremony, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez declared July 2 Lucy Fernandez Day in the city, handing the Fernandezes and their son Kevin a framed proclamation. Katy cheered as the family received the plaque. 'When we have events outside and it's raining, I feel like God is crying with us,' Suarez said. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava highlighted the efforts of the Fernandez and Puig families: 'We owe this to Lucy. We owe this to the others who have lost their lives or who have been gravely injured.' Rep. Vanessa Oliver, a Southwest Florida Republican who co-sponsored the bill with Lopez, echoed Levine Cava's sentiment. 'They fought to ensure that reckless behavior on the water would have consequences, and they did it out of love, love for strangers that they will never meet,' Oliver said.
Miami Herald
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
DeSantis signs boater safety law named for Miami-Dade teen who died in 2022 crash
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Friday a boater safety bill named after a teenage girl who was killed in a Biscayne Bay vessel crash that also seriously injured her friend, and in which the boat's operator initially only faced minor charges. House Bill 289 was named Lucy's Law by its legislative sponsors after 17-year-old Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, who was embarking on her senior year at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy when she died in the Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash. The main thrust of the law is that boat drivers whose reckless operation of their vessels result in serious injuries now face felony convictions, previously only a misdemeanor. It also boosts the penalties for providing misleading statements to law enforcement during a boat-crash investigation and boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill May 2 after a years-long campaign by Lucy's parents, Melissa and Andres Fernandez, to gain lawmakers' support. READ MORE: 'Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours 'This moment marks not only the fulfillment of a promise, but the continuation of a movement — one born from heartbreak, sustained by hope, and propelled by a shared mission to protect lives and bring meaning out of unimaginable loss,' the Fernandezes said in a statement via The Lucy Fernandez Foundation, a boater safety nonprofit they founded in honor of their daughter. The tragedy shook the tightly-knit South Florida religious school community, as all 12 girls on board the 29-foot Robalo that collided with a fixed channel marker either attended Lourdes, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart or Westminster Christian School. One of those girls, now 20-year-old Katerina Puig — a standout soccer player at Lourdes — suffered traumatic injuries that will likely require a lifetime of physical rehabilitation. The family, including Katerina and her parents, Rudy and Kathya, issued a statement to the Herald thanking the governor for signing the bill. 'We are overcome with joy and deep gratitude to Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing Lucy's Law. This is an emotional and profoundly meaningful moment for our family, and we thank him sincerely for honoring Lucy's legacy in such a powerful way,' the family said. The Puigs also praised the Fernandezes 'for their tireless dedication and perseverance throughout this journey. Your incredible efforts have been an amazing example of love and faith to us all.' An incomplete investigation Compounding the devastating loss of a child and the permanent injuries endured by another, was the way the investigation into the crash was handled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which initially only led to three misdemeanor careless boating counts against the Robalo's driver, Doral real estate broker George Pino, in August 2023. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office a year later reexamined the case after witnesses who had never been interviewed by investigators came forward disputing major aspects of the probe. Three of the witnesses — boaters who were at the scene in the aftermath of the crash — spoke to the Miami Herald, prompting a fourth witness to come forward. That witness is a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medic who was on the scene, and said Pino appeared intoxicated when he pulled him from the water, according to sources. When Pino hit the channel marker at nearly 50 mph, his boat capsized, throwing all 14 people on the boat — the 12 teenage girls and George Pino and his wife Cecilia— into the bay on that Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend. They were returning to Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo after a day celebrating his daughter's 18th birthday on Elliott Key. Lucy was trapped under the boat after the crash and died the next day in a hospital. Katerina was found unconscious in the water along with another girl, Isabella Rodriguez, who has recovered. Pino told the FWC investigators that a larger boat's wake caused him to lose control of his boat. However, all of the witnesses — including those who were on his boat — as well as photographic and global positioning satellite data, dispute that claim. Last October, the State Attorney's Office dropped the misdemeanors and charged Pino with reckless boating resulting in death — or vessel homicide — a second-degree felony. Prosecutors homed in on GPS data from Pino's boat, which they determined contradicted his version of events prior to striking the concrete channel marker. But, in order to re-charge Pino, the Puig family had to agree to drop the careless boating count related to Katerina's injuries. That was because Florida law did not have a felony charge for the reckless operation of a boat that resulted in serious injuries. Had Pino pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors at any time before prosecutors charged him with the felony, his maximum penalty if convicted would have been 60 days in county jail and a $500 fine. He now faces up to 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the vessel-homicide charge. His trial is scheduled for the fall, but the witness list has grown to dozens of people, meaning, with depositions, that's likely to be pushed back. Changes to boating laws Under Lucy's Law, reckless boating resulting in serious injury is now a third-degree felony, instead of a misdemeanor. Reckless boating resulting in death remains as a second-degree felony. And, anyone convicted of boating-under-the-influence manslaughter will be punished with a mandatory minimum four-year prison sentence. If the operator of a vessel in a crash that results in the death of a person provides misleading statements to police, that person could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor under the new law. Lucy's Law originally contained another stipulation that would have impacted Florida's deeply ingrained boating culture regarding vessel safety training. Florida law requires those born after Jan. 1, 1988 — or those 37 years old and younger — to complete a boater-safety course before they can operate a vessel. Lucy's Law would have expanded that requirement to those older than 37, but who haven't lived in Florida for five consecutive years at the time they first began operating a boat. That part of the bill was stripped before the final vote. According to the FWC's latest data, in 2023, 83% of boat operators in fatal accidents had no formal boating education. The Puigs, in their statement also thanked the bill's sponsors, Representatives Vicki Lopez and Vanessa Oliver, and said that in a state that has more than 1 million registered boat owners and leads the nation in fatal vessel crashes, more needs to be done to prevent the types of tragedy that took Lucy's life and forever changed Katerina's. 'The need for enhanced boater safety and education is undeniable. It is our hope that Lucy's Law will help prevent future tragedies and save lives. Lucy's life was beautiful, and now her memory will help protect others. This law is a step toward ensuring that no family has to endure the heartbreak that changed Katy's life forever.'
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours
A bill that came about after a boat pilot was charged initially with only minor misdemeanors in a crash that took the life of a 17-year-old Miami girl overwhelmingly passed the Florida Legislature late Friday and is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law. 'Lucy's Law' is named after Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, the Our Lady of Lourdes Academy senior who died Sept. 5, 2022, a day after George Pino crashed his boat into a fixed channel marker in Biscayne Bay during an 18th birthday celebration for the Doral real estate broker's daughter. Lucy was one of 12 teenage girls in the boat. After hours of back-and-forth negotiating, the Senate passed the bill in a 31-0 vote. The House then passed it with a 93-1 vote. The bill was the first item the House took up when the Legislative session began on March 4, and one of the last it approved in the final hours of the session late Friday night. 'We started our 60 days in the presence of Lucy, and end our 60 days in the presence of Lucy,' said House Speaker Danny Perez, a Miami Republican. The bill boosts the penalties for operating a boat in a crash that ends in serious injury, for providing misleading statements to law enforcement during a boat-crash investigation and boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 'This is actually going to save lives,' said one of the bill's sponsor, Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami-Dade Republican. 'We are going to deter people from acting recklessly on the water.' But the bill, also sponsored by Rep. Vanessa Oliver in the House and state Sen. Jonathan Martin, does not require law enforcement officers to give a boat operator a sobriety test on the scene in boat crashes with serious injury or death. In the Pino crash, investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not give Pino a sobriety test, despite him admitting to them he had been drinking that day. READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl And in the late-hour horse trading between the House and the Senate, a key passage about the state revising its rules on who must pass a boater-safety course before operating a vessel was deleted. The bill's passage is a bittersweet end to a years-long endeavor by Lucy's parents — Melissa and Andres Fernandez — to get it to lawmakers. 'Since the day we lost Lucy, our mission has been clear: to fight for her, to fight for safer waters, to fight for a culture of accountability—so all Floridians can enjoy the freedom and beauty of our waters responsibly,' the Fernandezes said in a statement Friday night. The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office had initially charged Pino with three misdemeanor counts of careless boating in August 2023, outraging Melissa and Andres and the parents of Lucy's seriously injured classmate, now-19 year-old Katerina Puig, a soccer star with major college prospects who suffered traumatic brain injury and needs a wheelchair. A year later, prosecutors reexamined the case after never-before-interviewed witnesses came forward disputing major aspects of the investigation. Three of the witnesses — boaters who were at the scene in the aftermath of the crash — spoke to the Miami Herald, prompting a fourth witness to come forward. That witness, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medic on the scene, said Pino appeared intoxicated when he pulled him from the water. Last October, the State Attorney's Office dropped the misdemeanors and charged Pino with reckless boating resulting in death — or vessel homicide — a second-degree felony. Had Pino pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors, he was looking at 60 days in county jail and a $500 fine. He now faces up to 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the vessel-homicide felony. His trial is scheduled for July. Under the newly passed legislation, reckless boating resulting in serious injury will be a third-degree felony, instead of a misdemeanor. Reckless boating resulting in death remains as a second-degree felony. And, anyone convicted of boating-under-the influence manslaughter will be punished with a mandatory minimum four-year prison sentence. 'The Puig family is happy with the passage of the Lucy Law, a significant step toward enhancing safety on Florida's waters. This law aims to prevent accidents and promote responsible behavior,' Katerina's father, Rudy Puig, said in an email to the Herald. When Pino hit the channel marker, his 29-foot Robalo capsized, hurtling all 14 people on the boat — the 12 teenage girls and George Pino and his wife Cecilia— into the bay on that Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend in 2022. Lucy was trapped under the boat and died the next day in a hospital. Katerina was found unconscious in the water along with another girl, Isabella Rodriguez, who has recovered. Katerina was left with physical and cognitive disabilities. Pino told the FWC investigators that a larger boat's wake caused him to lose control of his boat. All witnesses and photographic and global positioning satellite data dispute that. Under Lucy's Law, if the operator of a vessel in a crash that results in the death of a person provides misleading statements to police, that person could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's decision to quickly rule out alcohol as a factor in the crash despite potential evidence to the contrary inflamed the victims' families. The FWC, the state law-enforcement agency that investigates boat crashes, said it did not have probable cause to get a warrant to force Pino to take the sobriety test even though Pino told the lead FWC investigator at the scene he had 'two beers' that day. And training manuals from both the FWC and State Attorney's Office list significant injuries and deaths as probable cause for a blood draw in a sobriety test, a Miami Herald investigation found. READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl The day after the crash, FWC investigators pulled the boat from the bottom of the channel and discovered more than 60 empty booze bottles and cans on the boat. (Pino's defense attorney, Howard Srebnick, has said the empty booze containers stemmed from five boats tied up that day on Elliott Key.) In the lead-up to Pino's trial, both prosecutors and defense attorneys have been taking sworn statements from witnesses, some of whom have cast more doubt on the rigor of the initial investigation. Last month, an FWC patrol officer who was at the crash scene told lawyers in a deposition that Pino's eyes were bloodshot and he had a 'flustered demeanor' as he shined a flashlight in his face. He also told the FWC's lead investigator on the scene that he should conduct a sobriety test on Pino; the investigator didn't. The officer's interaction with Pino was recorded on his body camera, he told the attorneys, but the footage was somehow deleted. Rodney Barreto, whom the state Senate reconfirmed for his fourth term as FWC chair earlier this week, told the Herald in an email that the officer, Julian Gazzola, mislabeled the footage, resulting in it being automatically deleted 90 days after he submitted it. Lucy's Law was to include another stipulation that would have impacted Florida's deeply ingrained boating culture. Florida law requires those born after Jan. 1, 1988 — or those 37 years old and younger — to complete a boater-safety course before they can operate a vessel. Lucy's Law would have expanded that requirement to those older than 37, but who haven't lived in Florida for five consecutive years at the time they first began operating a boat. That part of the bill was stripped before the final vote. According to the FWC's latest data, in 2023, 83% of boat operators in fatal accidents had no formal boating education.
Miami Herald
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours
A bill that came about after a boat pilot was charged initially with only minor misdemeanors in a crash that took the life of a 17-year-old Miami girl overwhelmingly passed the Florida Legislature late Friday and is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law. 'Lucy's Law' is named after Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, the Our Lady of Lourdes Academy senior who died Sept. 5, 2022, a day after George Pino crashed his boat into a fixed channel marker in Biscayne Bay during an 18th birthday celebration for the Doral real estate broker's daughter. Lucy was one of 12 teenage girls in the boat. After hours of back-and-forth negotiating, the Senate passed the bill in a 31-0 vote. The House then passed it with a 93-1 vote. The bill was the first item the House took up when the Legislative session began on March 4, and one of the last it approved in the final hours of the session late Friday night. 'We started our 60 days in the presence of Lucy, and end our 60 days in the presence of Lucy,' said House Speaker Danny Perez, a Miami Republican. The bill boosts the penalties for operating a boat in a crash that ends in serious injury, for providing misleading statements to law enforcement during a boat-crash investigation and boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 'This is actually going to save lives,' said one of the bill's sponsor, Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami-Dade Republican. 'We are going to deter people from acting recklessly on the water.' But the bill, also sponsored by Rep. Vanessa Oliver in the House and state Sen. Ileana Garcia, does not require law enforcement officers to give a boat operator a sobriety test on the scene in boat crashes with serious injury or death. In the Pino crash, investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not give Pino a sobriety test, despite him admitting to them he had been drinking that day. How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl And in the late-hour horse trading between the House and the Senate, a key passage about the state revising its rules on who must pass a boater-safety course before operating a vessel was deleted. The bill's passage is a bittersweet end to a years-long endeavor by Lucy's parents — Melissa and Andres Fernandez — to get it to lawmakers. 'Since the day we lost Lucy, our mission has been clear: to fight for her, to fight for safer waters, to fight for a culture of accountability—so all Floridians can enjoy the freedom and beauty of our waters responsibly,' the Fernandezes said in a statement Friday night. Initially charged with misdemeanors The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office had initially charged Pino with three misdemeanor counts of careless boating in August 2023, outraging Melissa and Andres and the parents of Lucy's seriously injured classmate, now-19 year-old Katerina Puig, a soccer star with major college prospects who suffered traumatic brain injury and needs a wheelchair. A year later, prosecutors reexamined the case after never-before-interviewed witnesses came forward disputing major aspects of the investigation. Three of the witnesses — boaters who were at the scene in the aftermath of the crash — spoke to the Miami Herald, prompting a fourth witness to come forward. That witness, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medic on the scene, said Pino appeared intoxicated when he pulled him from the water. Last October, the State Attorney's Office dropped the misdemeanors and charged Pino with reckless boating resulting in death — or vessel homicide — a second-degree felony. Had Pino pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors, he was looking at 60 days in county jail and a $500 fine. He now faces up to 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the vessel-homicide felony. His trial is scheduled for July. Felony charge for serious injury, death Under the newly passed legislation, reckless boating resulting in serious injury will be a third-degree felony, instead of a misdemeanor. Reckless boating resulting in death remains as a second-degree felony. And, anyone convicted of boating-under-the influence manslaughter will be punished with a mandatory minimum four-year prison sentence. 'The Puig family is happy with the passage of the Lucy Law, a significant step toward enhancing safety on Florida's waters. This law aims to prevent accidents and promote responsible behavior,' Katerina's father, Rudy Puig, said in an email to the Herald. When Pino hit the channel marker, his 29-foot Robalo capsized, hurtling all 14 people on the boat — the 12 teenage girls and George Pino and his wife Cecilia— into the bay on that Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend in 2022. Lucy was trapped under the boat and died the next day in a hospital. Katerina was found unconscious in the water along with another girl, Isabella Rodriguez, who has recovered. Katerina was left with physical and cognitive disabilities. Pino told the FWC investigators that a larger boat's wake caused him to lose control of his boat. All witnesses and photographic and global positioning satellite data dispute that. Under Lucy's Law, if the operator of a vessel in a crash that results in the death of a person provides misleading statements to police, that person could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's decision to quickly rule out alcohol as a factor in the crash despite potential evidence to the contrary inflamed the victims' families. The FWC, the state law-enforcement agency that investigates boat crashes, said it did not have probable cause to get a warrant to force Pino to take the sobriety test even though Pino told the lead FWC investigator at the scene he had 'two beers' that day. And training manuals from both the FWC and State Attorney's Office list significant injuries and deaths as probable cause for a blood draw in a sobriety test, a Miami Herald investigation found. READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl The day after the crash, FWC investigators pulled the boat from the bottom of the channel and discovered more than 60 empty booze bottles and cans on the boat. (Pino's defense attorney, Howard Srebnick, has said the empty booze containers stemmed from five boats tied up that day on Elliott Key.) In the lead-up to Pino's trial, both prosecutors and defense attorneys have been taking sworn statements from witnesses, some of whom have cast more doubt on the rigor of the initial investigation. Last month, an FWC patrol officer who was at the crash scene told lawyers in a deposition that Pino's eyes were bloodshot and he had a 'flustered demeanor' as he shined a flashlight in his face. He also told the FWC's lead investigator on the scene that he should conduct a sobriety test on Pino; the investigator didn't. The officer's interaction with Pino was recorded on his body camera, he told the attorneys, but the footage was somehow deleted. Rodney Barreto, whom the state Senate reconfirmed for his fourth term as FWC chair earlier this week, told the Herald in an email that the officer, Julian Gazzola, mislabeled the footage, resulting in it being automatically deleted 90 days after he submitted it. Boater-safety course provision deleted Lucy's Law was to include another stipulation that would have impacted Florida's deeply ingrained boating culture. Florida law requires those born after Jan. 1, 1988 — or those 37 years old and younger — to complete a boater-safety course before they can operate a vessel. Lucy's Law would have expanded that requirement to those older than 37, but who haven't lived in Florida for five consecutive years at the time they first began operating a boat. That part of the bill was stripped before the final vote. According to the FWC's latest data, in 2023, 83% of boat operators in fatal accidents had no formal boating education.
