MIAMI (WSVN) \u2014 The criminal trial of prominent real estate developer George Pino has now entered its ninth day.<\/p>\n
Closing arguments could potentially take place Thursday afternoon, and jury instructions are set to be handed down near 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Pino\u2019s defense rested its case on Wednesday as state prosecutors once again questioned Lucy Fernandez\u2019s father, Andy, as a rebuttal witness.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you have any plans to go out to the sandbar on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022?\u201d said prosecutor Laura Adams.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d said Andy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you did?\u201d said Adams.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I did,\u201d said Andy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd why did you go?\u201d said Adams.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Lucy asked me to go,\u201d said Andy.<\/p>\n
Defense attorneys also got their chance to cross-examine Andy.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you send a text to Mr. Pino that said, \u2018Billy\u2019s on Sunday?\u2019\u201d said an attorney.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect,\u201d said Andy.<\/p>\n
Seventeen-year-old Lucy Fernandez did not survive the deadly 2022 boating crash when Pino crashed into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key.<\/p>\n
That crash also left Kathy Puig with permanent injuries.<\/p>\n
Puig\u2019s father, Rudy, testified about how the tragedy changed her life forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs your daughter in the same condition now than she was when she went to Ocean Reef Club?\u201d asked Adams.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, she\u2019s not,\u201d said Rudy. \u201cShe was an incredible athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pino ultimately decided to not take the stand to testify in his own defense when given the chance, but another survivor of the 2022 boating crash took the stand for a second time.<\/p>\n
After reviewing body camera video from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the survivor testified she saw Pino immediately after the crash.<\/p>\n
Pino\u2019s defense team continued to argue the crash was a tragic accident, claiming high tide obstructed his view of the channel marker.<\/p>\n
Multiple witnesses testified that Pino was not impaired at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n
Dr. Diana Barratt, a neurologist called by the defense, testified that Pino suffered from amnesia, which could have caused him to make false statements after the crash.<\/p>\n
However, prosecutors pushed back against that narrative.<\/p>\n
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