C (4:03)

Hey, Billy, how are you? Thank you for having me. Andy Fernandez and I have been good friends since we began work together at the public defender's office. And so, you know, we went to each other's weddings. We're good friends. Our wives are friends. So on September 4, 2022, when the news alert came across my phone and it said that my friend's daugh. Lucy may have died in this devastating boating accident. The report also said that there was another boat involved and that George Pino was traveling to Ocean Reef and he lost control of his boat because he hit the larger boat's wave and then that other boat left the scene. So, you know, seeing this alert and seeing this news, obviously it was devastating. My friend's daughter has been killed. But I became very angry, obviously. And I think everyone's anger was directed toward the other boat that the reports say and even other reports after that were claiming that there was another boat that had caused this accident and then had left everyone for dead, essentially. So obviously when you have such tragedy like that, I obviously went to the funeral and was supportive. It's a very, very difficult thing. I get a call from my friend Andy eight months later after the FWC report was finished. And in the FWC report it says actually there was no other boat and that they were going to recommend that they charge George Pino with careless homicide and careless injury to Catalina Puig.

B (5:57)

To be clear, Joel, the FWC is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. These are game wardens. Who are these guys and what are they doing out there investigating a homicide?

C (6:09)

Well, you know, there's, there's Metro date out there also and there's FWC and fwc. It is my understanding that FWC just assumed control and took the lead on the investigation. But I think they investigate the boating homicides on the water. I think that's one of their functions. For me, as you introduced me. Yes. I am a criminal defense attorney. I've never been a victim advocate before. And my friend Andy asked me if he could come over with his wife. Course they came over and they said, look, Joel, we just want to know if we're crazy. You know, we just don't feel right about this.

B (6:50)

Because to be clear. To be clear, Joel. So first thing you learn is that there was. This is a ghost boat, whatever boat that George Pinot was talking about that cut him off, that created a wake, that moved his boat into this metal mile marker, didn't exist, number one. And number two, they're saying charge him with a misdemeanor, basically a slap on the wrist, a parking ticket. And, and so. So these are two pretty significant pieces of information. What did they think happened? Do they think Pinot lied about the boat?

C (7:21)

There's two questions there. They charged George Pino with three second degree misdemeanors. Each misdemeanor is punishable by 60 days in jail. He has no criminal priors. Did the family think that there was no other boat? There was no other boat. George Pino struck mile marker channel marker 15. And so what we learn is, is that this story about the other boat took place in front of channel marker 14. And unbeknownst to anyone, there was a camera affixed to channel marker 14 pointing north towards Miami.

B (8:02)

A smuggling camera, Basically, right.

C (8:04)

It was an alien smuggling camera. And no one knew it was there. And when they checked the camera, there was. There was no evidence of any other boat. So that was contained in the FWC report. And when I saw it, you know, my first thought was, how was he not being charged with something related to fabricating a boat, a phantom boat? You know, false information during the investigation of a crime came to mind. Obstruction of justice.

B (8:36)

But none of those were charged. And wasn't there addition was there GPS data from his boat as well that disproved his ghost boat theory?

C (8:45)

The GPS on the boat has cookies. So each, after each time you use your boat, it shows you your route. And his route showed him driving straight into channel marker 15.

B (8:59)

Right. So no, no. So nothing pushed him that way. Nothing diverted him that way. He wasn't thrust. Yeah.

C (9:07)

No evasive movements as he described to fwc. I believe he said he saw the wake. Rather than decelerating, he increased his speed from 45 miles an hour, I believe, to 48 miles an hour. He says that he turned left and then he turned right and lost control of the steering and struck the channel marker, which caused the boat to capsule size. Everyone on the boat was thrown off the boat including himself.

B (9:44)

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A (10:14)

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B (10:50)

GAMBLING PROBLEM Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny at 467-369-3779 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 and over 8. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void In Ontario, bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms on responsible gaming resources, see DKNG co Audio. Joel there's three words in this report that took eight months to write, which I imagine would mean it was an extensively investigative report. The investigator from Florida Wild from FWC interviewed all the witnesses and everybody involved and found that there was no alcohol involved. I want to roll this clip. Investigators did not believe alcohol was a factor despite finding 61 empty alcoholic bottles and cans on board along with one empty champagne bottle and another half consumed bottle of liquor. Pino, who was celebrating his teenage daughter's birthday with her and her friends and his wife and declined a voluntary blood draw. No liquor involved or no alcohol involved. And yet what you heard at the end there was George Pino audio from a body cam video where he admits to having two beers. He admits to drinking. FWC found once they flipped this capsized boat back over right side again. All of this booze in a trash can on the boat, the empty Booze containers, over 60 of them. Joel, what happened? How is there no alcohol involved in a report. And when this guy was on a boat full of booze.

C (12:44)

So when Andy and Mellie came to my house, they had. Actually, Lucy's aunt is the real hero in all of this because when she saw the FWC report, she wrote her own report. It must have taken her, you know, 1,000 hours. And she went through all the body cam footage. So that footage you just played, where he is admitting to having two beers, appears nowhere in the FWC report. In the FWC report. And it comes up in the context of when they give him the opportunity to have his blood drawn, rather than forcing the blood drawn. His reason for that, which is stated in the FWC report, is that his lawyer is not present. But when Vanessa, Lucy's aunt, went through all of the body cam footage, she came across that footage from the lead detective Thompson's body cam footage, where he admits to drinking. So to say that drinking is not involved. Well, he, by his own admission, says that he has two beers. Of course, the 61 beer cans and the empty bottle of champagne, those were all supposedly found the day after. And then, of course, we learned evidence. Well, I shouldn't say that. At 1:30am at 1:30am Katarina Wieg has her blood drawn. And at 1:30am we know that she is a point 0144 hours after striking the channel marker.

B (14:25)

So she's still nearly like twice the legal limit hours later. That's how much he had to drink. This is a teenage 17 year old girl.

C (14:35)

Well, this is a star soccer player. This is probably the best high school female soccer player in the state. Yes, and look, we know that kids drink. We know that in Miami, it's a hard charging town, kids. I'm not passing judgment, of course, on any of that, but I'm just saying to say that there's no alcohol. Alcohol involved isn't true.

B (15:03)

Why didn't they draw blood? They have a dead girl on the scene. They've got multiple victims being airlifted with severe injuries. They didn't need probable cause. They had probable cause. It seems based on all of the evidence we now have from the testimony of the individual investigators. Bloodshot eyes. He smells like. I mean, he was clearly. I mean, or seemed to them to be impaired.

C (15:30)

Well, Billy, let me just catch up. That comes. The bloodshot eyes, the smell of alcohol. All of that comes much later.

B (15:39)

Okay, but it was that night, though, Joel. When you say it comes later, you learn about it later.

C (15:44)

No, but none of that stuff made the report, so. But why not Thompson? Right. Well, Thompson says that he saw no indicia of impairment. What happens is normally in these criminal cases, they don't get better with time. Over time, cases usually get. Are denigrated. But here this is different because over time, we learned that Thompson's report leaves out what his partner that night observed. What do I mean? Sort of at the moment of truth when Thompson is sitting down with George Pino and they're at Elliot Key. Now they've triaged at Elliot Key, is sitting at a picnic table. And Thompson asks Officer Gazzola, and they're from the same organization, fwc. And Thompson tells Gazzola. Officer Gazzola, listen, I got to take a few phone calls. I want you to sit and observe Pino while I take these phone calls. Okay, no problem. Two and a half years after the accident, his deposition is taken. For those in the audience who don't know what a deposition is, it's a sworn statement that. That we're allowed to take in criminal cases. And he's an officer who was listed as a witness. So he's being deposed. And it must have come as a huge surprise to everyone because he tells a story about how his partner told him to watch Pino, but that he observes Pino with bloodshot eyes. He says he's disoriented and he says he smells like alcohol. And then he says he tells Officer Thompson this when he returns from his phone calls. So how. That didn't make it into the report or questions for these officers.

B (17:35)

So that would all be probable cause to draw blood to check his blood alcohol level. But my understanding is FWC policy is that when you have an accident this severe with the kind of injuries and death. Death in fact involved, you don't need probable cause. Basically, just under those circumstances, you draw blood. It's part of the standard investigation.

C (17:55)

Yeah, well, I mean, an example of that is a recent tragedy that took place. The Miami sailing tragedy of the little girls with the tugboat on the tugboat ran into the catamaran. And that case looks to have been taken over by the Coast Guard. The admiral gave a quote the Herald and said that we owe it to the public. We owe it to the public. And they took his blood. And I don't think there was any indication of. Of impairment. But you're right, their own. The FWC's policy is death or great bodily injury. You draw blood. It's not an option.

B (18:35)

Do we. Do we know who Thompson was talking to on the phone in the middle of this homicide investigation?

C (18:42)

I don't. But. But you know he had body camera on as well. So I don't know if it's on his body camera. I do know that Vanessa brings up in her her counter report that that the officers were turning body camera on and off. That should be known and I think it will be. I think it will be known.

B (19:03)

Let's talk about the body camera for a moment. Come sit down for me.

A (19:06)

Mr. Pino, what did additional FWC officer worn body camera footage document? The 2022 night George Pin crashed a boat, killing one teenager and permanently disabling another? We don't know because FWC in a statement says video from at least two officers was deleted after a set retention period because of how the officers labeled it, categorizing them as incidental because they were not lead officers on the case.

B (19:32)

As it turns out, there is at least that we know of four body cams from four different FWC officers on the scene that were deleted. Okay. One. Joel. Oopsie Daisy. Two. Okay. They were poorly trained or untrained. They didn't know the policy. They didn't properly check off the right box to preserve. 3, 4. I mean, what is happening here? Where is this evidence going in this, in this homicide investigation?

C (19:59)

Well, five, actually. Five, because all of the footage from the alien smuggling camera affixed to channel marker 14, which would conclusively prove that there was no other boat that's missing.

B (20:16)

Also, they deleted all of this evidence, this video recording and photographic evidence in this case. What the hell is going on here? Is this an investigation or was this a cover up from the jump? I've seen officers give sobriety tests or draw blood with much less indicia, if that was the term that you used. Or evidence of impairment. Like what was going on here, Joel.

C (20:40)

The three hour investigation, that three hour period from the time that Pino struck the channel marker till the time that they decide that they're not going to take his blood and force draw his blood was the real problem with this case. I don't think that FWC did a proper investigation. Why do I say that when I got involved with the case. Let me just be clear and clear up some misconceptions. Number one, we've never asked for George Pino to be charged with a felony. When I got involved with the case after looking at everything, the only thing I really saw was that we could where we had any real argument. After the report that I read from FWC after the decision to file misdemeanors, I think that the state was sort of handcuffed by the investigation. I know they've taken some blame for this, but I really think that people have to understand that state attorneys are different from US Attorneys. US Attorneys send out FBI agents to do investigations. We have so many crimes in this community that the state attorney's office relies on the officers to do the investigation. So they were presented, really, an investigation where once they decided not to draw blood. We'll never really know if he was under the influence or not. How could we know? We know that Gazola says that he smelled like alcohol. We know that he said he was disoriented. We know that he said that he seemed almost like, disinterested at times. You have the deposition, but once that decision is made, we're sort of left guessing. Where I do find fault is when this case begun and I went to the original state attorney, who was taken off the case, and I asked for file false information during a felony investigation. My clients were so greatly offended by what they told me. Was George Pena going into the community and blaming another boat months and months and months after the accident. It's not just. He made up that there was a boat on that night. He filed. His lawyers filed a federal pleading before Judge Jose Martinez, saying in great detail that there was another boat. He's amended those statements in other forms as well. We don't know what he said to the insurance company, but we just know. And that my family said, joel, he's going around telling everyone there was another boat. And those are, you know, those are fighting words. Okay. You have a tragedy like this, and another man is. Is saying that another boat is at least partially responsible for this, and we know it not to be a fact. Well, like I said, those are fighting words. So, yeah, I want to just clear it up that the family only wanted the truth. They only wanted the truth about the boat. Boat to come out. And an admission by him that. That, look, there was no other boat. I was scared. I was this. I was that. And that just hasn't come.

B (24:14)

Last question before we go. Just last week, the charges were upgraded to manslaughter, an additional felony. What happened? What have we learned through the depositions that has led to these new charges?

C (24:27)

Well, they stopped. We used to get the deposition. So I haven't seen the new depositions. They used to file the depositions with the clerk's office, but I think that that was becoming sort of too prejudicial with all the coverage that was going on. But. But my understanding is, is that they've been taking the depositions of some of the Young ladies who were involved. And I, I mean the state already knew that Caddy puig was a 0.014. But apparently another young lady took her deposition and admitted to having. Well, first of all said that there was beer on the boat when she got on Mr. Pinot's boat. That's my understanding. And that she was drinking excessively. Look, vessel homicide and manslaughter are essentially both almost the same thing. Vessel homicide is wanton and willful conduct while you're operating a boat. And this is just wanton and willful conduct causing death. So. So, you know, you can't get. They can't stack the sentence. But bottom line, now he's facing two felonies.

B (25:37)

But bottom line, Joe, what we understand now is that the, the booze was already on the boat when these teenage girls arrived. Many of them were drinking in excess. We know that not only from this newer testimony, but from the blood alcohol level of. Of some of the other girls. And before we go, Lucy Fernandez, who perished in this accident, what was her blood alcohol level at the time of her death?

C (25:58)

Can I just say two things? Number one, her blood alcohol level was.000. She did not have any alcohol in her. But you know, we've been talking about Kathy and this tragedy and there is some good that has come out of this. And because of the efforts of Andy Fernandez and his beautiful wife, better half, Melly Fernandez, there's a new state law and it's called Lucy's Law, ensuring that her death and Kathy's injury will protect others in the future. And so that will sort of cement their legacy. And I think that that's a bright side and where this has evolved to. And I know the family is very, very proud of that. And so I'd just like to end with that if that's possible.

B (26:56)

Joel Dinaro, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck to you and the Fernandez family.

C (27:01)

Thank you. My pleasure.

B (27:05)

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C (27:21)

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B (27:58)

Hey, Roy, what do you remember about Paula Dean, the butter queen? She used a lot of butter and.

D (28:04)

She also said the N word.

B (28:05)

That's. That is the title of our new documentary, actually. She used a lot of butter and she also used the N word. A Paula Dean story. That is. It's close. It's called Canceled. The Paula Deen story. You might Remember back in 2013, there was a bit of an ethkandelo in which she admitted to using the N word in a deposition against her and her brother, Uncle Bubba. Of course, at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House was the name of their seafood restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. And our new documentary is a trip down memory lane to more innocent times of the 2000s in America when you could say the N word. When. Well, when. When. When. Not be canceled. When pop culture was great. No, she. She said it and was canceled. But it's a really interesting opportunity to kind of buck conventional wisdom and to reexamine this scandal and the effect on her family. She has two sons, Jamie and Bobby, one of whom is a big fan. Fan of the show. Yeah. First the big show, and then because it was force fed to him via his RSS feed, believe it or not, became a fan of. Because Miami.

D (29:18)

Shocking.

B (29:18)

It's shocking to me, too, because who gives a shit about Miami in Georgia? Turns out at least one. At least one person.

C (29:25)

Yeah.

B (29:26)

But it was a really interesting experience working on this. And it has its world premiere on September 6th at the Toronto International Film Festival. I know you'll be there. If there was a hockey game, you'd be there in Toronto. I'll meet you, Tim Hortons. I got to get my passport first. Are they going to let you back is the question. That's my. That's my concern. No, they probably won't as well. Interestingly, you go through customs in the Toronto airport. U.S. customs is there in Toronto, which makes it much more convenient to be put into, I guess, customs detention or customs custody. But you are not interested in this. This one, Roy, I think you are not curious about this documentary of mine. Well, I like food, so maybe if there's like a cooking segment, watch it. The last documentary I made with a cooking segment was that food.

D (30:22)

It was cocaine.

B (30:22)

Was cocaine. Cowboys to Hustling with the Godmother in which Charles Cosby from Oakland teaches us how to cook crack. It was banned in, like, certain countries. It was certainly banned from YouTube. I think in Australia, for example, we had to remove the crack cooking tutorial from the movie in order for it to be distributed, which on the one hand you can say that. Censorship. On the other hand I feel like it's probably educational. Well, no, I'm saying it's probably like a responsible decision on behalf of their government to be like how about we're not going to distribute a crack cooking tutorial in our country. It seems, it seems fair. Tough to argue with that. And while you will only be able to see Cancel the Paula Deen story so far at the Toronto International film festival, there's three screenings there if you go to tiff.nettiff.net but our new documentary which you might remember World premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival. Men of War is premiering on digital. Be available everywhere you get your movies or rent your movies. Apple, DirecTV, Amazon, everywhere. This one is about the 2020 attempted couple of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela by a few former US Green Berets that was hatched out of a wework here in Brickell in downtown Miami. Yeah.

D (31:49)

So not the coup that happened January 6th?

B (31:52)

No, not, not that one. This one, this, this, this one is in Venezuela. Yes. Kind of got memory hold in the pandemic. It was in 2020, it was shortly after then President Donald Trump in this first administration had put a $15 million bounty on Nicolas Madur head. And these guys went in with some former Venezuelan military who had defected to Colombia and they went over the border and the media dubbed it the Bay of Piglets. Didn't, didn't turn out so well. In fact, two of the Green Berets were captured. One of them, his boat broke down on the way. The guy that helped to plot it, the other two were captured. They were sentenced to like 27 years in a tropical gulag in Venezuela for terrorism. The Biden administration, they negotiated their release. They were released before Christmas a couple Decembers ago. This documentary starts off as this kind of like almost Jason Bourne esque political techno thriller and then turns into a really, really more introspective like portrait of a warrior of an American war hero who was originally from Canada but renounced his citizenship, became an American after 9 11, was in the military for like 17 years with like a dozen tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. And really what happens when you get retired out of the only life you've ever known and the only work you've ever known and how these kind of like these, you know, GI Joes and Captain America's and GI Janes, we just kind of like toss them aside when governments are done playing with them and what do you, do you plot a couple? That is not the slogan of the movie, although that would look good on the poster, I think. What do you do? Plot a coup. So for our Miami moment, here is a clip from Men of War in which Jordan Gaudreau, this US Green Beret turned mercenary, is bonding with his Venezuelan soldiers and telling them that they are not going to try to coup Venezuela and overthrow Maduro. They are going to do it. I'm a soldier and I was in the position to help, so of course I'm going to help. And so when I look in these soldiers eyes, in Venezuela, they're patriots, exiles from their country and they say, you know, will you help us? What the am I going to say? No? I mean, it's the motto of the special forces. The oppressor liber. Free the oppressed. Make no mistake, guys. So the deal is there's no, there will be no chance in this. There will be no trying in this. We're not going to try to do this. We are going to do this. This is going to succeed.

D (34:27)

Hey, it's Mike Ryan. Those sprinklers are starting to slowly come up on the football field. Time that we have with summer is dwindling. I'm sure you're already doing that thing where you're going through your photo album, flipping through the photos that you've taken this summer, already reminiscing about the good times that you have. I know I did. And in many of the pictures that I went back to reminisce over, had a beautiful white can of Miller Light in my hand because I love making good times during the summer a Miller time. And it's a good reminder we're losing time on this summer. So why don't you share the moments that you have with a white can of Miller Lite like I have. Whether it's a long weekend or a full on vacation, it is the perfect time to get the crew back together. And since 1975, Miller Lite has been the go to way to stock the cooler and celebrate those moments. This year marks 50 years of Miller time. 50 years of great taste, great friends and unforgettable memories. Brewed for flavor with simple ingredients like malted barley, it delivers rich, balanced toffee note flavor and that golden color color that just hits different Miller Light. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to Millerlight. Com Dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.