Two separate tragic incidents in Miami’s waters — both tied to prominent local real estate figures and which each ended in the death of a teen — are headed for very different legal outcomes. 

Commercial broker George Pino, CEO of Doral-based State Street Realty, faces a felony vessel homicide charge, and his attorneys recently filed a slew of court motions seeking to keep statements made by Pino and other information related to his alleged alcohol consumption before the crash from being mentioned by prosecutors during his trial, slated to start on June 1, the Miami Herald reported.

Pino was steering the boat on Biscayne Bay on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend in 2022 with 14 occupants, including his wife, daughter and 11 other teenage girls when the craft crashed into a concrete channel marker. The crash killed 17-year-old Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez and left Katerina “Katy” Puig, now 21, with a lifetime of physical disabilities.

Pino’s defense team is asking the court to exclude during trial a statement he made to an investigator the night of the crash that the wake of a larger boat headed toward his vessel and caused the crash. 

His attorneys are asking Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez to bar testimony from the jury trial that recounts a witness’ statement that Pino had bloodshot eyes the night of the crash and that he had told police he had had “two beers” that day. The defense also wants to preclude the jury from hearing that Pino’s boat contained 61 empty alcohol containers when it was pulled out from the water after the crash.  

Pino had given some of his statements to police and an investigator before he was read his Miranda rights, according to his attorneys. 

Pino’s attorneys also filed motions to dismiss the criminal charges or to move the trial to Palm Beach or Orlando due to extensive media coverage of the crash in Miami-Dade County. 

Pino originally faced misdemeanor charges of careless boating, but prosecutors issued the more serious vessel homicide charge in 2024 after a witness came forward. 

This year, a neurologist issued a report on whether Pino had suffered a traumatic brain injury, causing amnesia and false memories for his recollection of the incident. The neurologist was hired by Pino’s attorneys, indicating they may use the doctor’s testimony in the trial. 

In another fatal incident in Miami’s waters that devastated the real estate community and the city as a whole, 15-year-old Ella Riley Adler –– daughter of Adler Real Estate Partners’ Matthew Adler –– died in a 2024 incident. Adler was wakeboarding in May 2024 in waters off Key Biscayne. She had fallen off her wakeboard when another boat struck her. 

The captain of the yacht that was towing the 15-year-old struck a plea deal, the Miami Herald reported. 

Edmund Richard Hartley pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of navigational rule violations. Under the plea deal, prosecutors dropped two other misdemeanor charges, and Hartley was ordered to complete a boating safety course, barred from steering a vessel for 60 days starting next month, and was sentenced to six months probation. For the second charge, he also faces a second six-month probation term, though prosecutors could terminate this if he completes the first term. In addition, no criminal conviction will appear on Hartley’s record. 

Adler’s parents approved of the plea deal, though Matthew Adler told Hartley during a court hearing on Tuesday that he should have been more cautious. 

“At just 15 years old, Ella was flourishing. Her final year was in many ways her happiest and most exciting,” Matthew Adler said in court, the publication reported. “She was thriving academically, participating in debate, performing in the school musical ‘Chicago’ and growing into an exceptional young woman with limitless potential ahead of her.”

The captain of the boat that struck Adler, Carlos Guillermo “Bill” Alonso, also received a deal, pleading guilty to misdemeanor careless boating charges. He was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to complete a boater safety course. 

The Adler family started the Ella Ridley Adler Foundation that supports Jewish life, education and art. —Lidia Dinkova 

Miami’s Kaseya Center filled up with sombrero vueltiaos and Colombian flags to receive Carlos Vives’ Tour Al Sol on Saturday night (May 23). 

At 9 p.m. sharp, three large screens — including a round one in the center that represented a sun (hence the tour’s name) — lit up the sold-out arena: “We all need the sun to be happy,” Vives’ voice recited in an intro video.

In the conceptual two-hour show, the Colombian star took spectators on a journey through the solar system all the way to infinity, but “in my homeland, the sun hits incredibly hard,” he continued in the clip before he got on stage. 

Flaunting a black denim jacket and jeans, and his bouncy, signature dirty blond curls, Vives kicked off the concert with “Volví a Nacer,” followed by “La Bicicleta” and “Canción Bonita.” 

“How are you, Miami? The city of all,” he said. “For me, it is important to be in this city. Music took me around the world — not to become more famous, but to show my family what lay beyond Colombia. I have been singing for many years, and one learns who it is they sing for: my country, my land, my people, my region.”

Throughout the night, Vives, who was joined by 11 musicians, also serenaded fans with his vallenato and cumbia classics, including “La Gota Fria,” “El Cantor de Fonseca,” “Carito,” “Pa’ Mate,” “Cuando Nos Volvamos a Encontrar,” “Fruta Fresca” and “Robarte un Beso.”

Among his notable surprise guests were Niña Pastori for a performance of “Sombra Perdida”; Sergio George for “Si yo volviera a nacer”; Grupo Niche for the salsa-cumbia version of “La Tierra del Olvido”; and Fonseca for “Quiero verte sonreir.” 

Last season, the Cinderella run to Super Regionals as the No. 3 seed was just the start of what the Miami Hurricanes baseball program could return to under J.D. Arteaga.

This season, the Canes finished with a 38-18 record and in fifth place in the conference, while playing like a two seed all season, ranking as high as No. 17 in the country before falling out and remaining in the low 20s to high 30s in their RPI rankings.

However, the Canes’ goals have always been to get to Omaha, and now they know where their journey begins as they look to make that dream a reality. Moreover, that reality can quickly change overnight.

Arteaga highlighted this after the Canes’ loss to eventual ACC Baseball Championship winners Georgia Tech. It’s the survive-and-advance season.

“It’s not another chance tomorrow,” Arteaga said. “So that’s something we talked about coming into this is understanding what a loss at this point of the season means. It’s kind of a practice run this week. If we lose we’re out of the tournament but we got a chance to dress out and compete next weekend. Next weekend we lose and then season’s over and for some guys their careers are over. So a learning lesson that we can’t take anything for granted. We’ve got to show up, we’ve got to be ready to go for nine innings every game.”

The Hurricanes land in the Gainesville Regional. They have a chance to redeem themselves after the series loss early in the season, while also having a chance of making it out and having a strong Super Regional hosting chance in the 8th seed pod.

This story will be updated with game dates and times once the NCAA bracket is fully revealed on Monday morning.

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