A boat expert and a medical examiner testified in the trial of prominent real estate developer George Pino, who is accused of a deadly 2022 boating crash. On Monday, jurors watched a re-enactment video of the crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez as boating expert Lt. Paul Alber took the s tand. “Did the vessel accelerate somehow between that last checkpoint, as it approached?” said a prosecutor. “Yes,” said boating expert Lt. Paul Alber. Alber helped conduct the accident simulation, so he was able to walk jurors through Pino’s trajectory on the day of the crash. Fernandez was one of the 14 passengers who were aboard celebrating Pino’s younger daughter’s birthday. In court, Alber analyzed GPS data from Pino’s 29-foot vessel and testified that nine seconds before impact, the boat was traveling about 47 miles per hour. “Passenger nine, Lucy, passenger two, Mia, would you expect them to have potentially more injuries than the people that were in the center console on the port side of the vessel?” asked a prosecutor. “Yes,” said Alber. He said that the top speed of the vessel, with a light load, would be around 50 miles per hour. “Oh, not a load of, say, 14 people?” asked a prosecutor. “Correct,” said Alber. Prosecutors argue that Pino had a clear view of the channel marker before the crash. Pino’s defense attorney also had a chance to cross-examine Alber. They argued that high tide played a role in what they believe was a tragic accident and that Pino did not have a clear vantage point of the marker. “So that marker to the operator’s view is going to look lower when it’s high tide?” asked a defense lawyer. “A little bit, yes,” said Alber. “On Sept. 4, 2022, at 6:37 p.m., it was high tide, wasn’t it?” asked the defense lawyer. “It was close to high tide, I believe, yes,” said Alber. “The entire event, until we were here in this courtroom today, you assumed that the accident happened at low tide?” said the defense attorney. “I didn’t make any assumptions because I didn’t consider that the minor difference in a foot or two of water level to play a factor in the collision,” said Alber. Before the court wrapped up for the day, a medical examiner also testified about Lucy’s cause of death. As members of Lucy’s family heard the testimony, cameras captured them becoming emotional. “The cause of death in this case was determined to be drowning. I would have used slightly different language, complications of drowning,” said Dr. David Garavan, a forensic pathologist. The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday morning. ...read more read less