In a closely watched (not by us), hard fought, opinion generating case, Jorge Pino was acquitted after a two hour deliberation on Monday of the boating manslaughter he was charged with.
Not every accident is a crime, even when tragic, as this one was, where a beautiful, bright, and promising young woman lost her life.
But the tragic episode was an accident, not a crime, and that is what a jury found.
One word of caution- we will NOT post nasty, character attacks on anyone. So if you want to waste your time writing such missives, have at it. No one will read it.
Thoughtful comments will be posted.
HR
64 comments:
Congratulations to the lawyers that put their heart and soul into the case
The Captain Retorts:
A whole lot of comments over the past few days on this blog. And not a one of you got it right.
4:22 pm on Tuesday. Guilty they wrote. No doubt.
9:11 pm on Tuesday. Boy did you get it wrong when you typed “Worst defense money could buy”.
4:53 am on Thursday chimed in with “I would have went with the PD”.
4:16 pm on Wednesday. You owe someone $50 for offering that bet on the result of a hung jury. Please donate that money to charity.
6:14 pm on Wednesday wanted to know how Pino could toss aside the misdemeanor plea offer. Guess the defense got that right.
12:42 am on Thursday. That dog did hunt.
2:21 pm on Thursday had it at two hours and guilty. Three years FSP. Boy did you miss big time. Except on the deliberations. Nailed that. Two hours.
5:20 pm on Thursday also predicted a verdict of guilty.
6:33 pm on Thursday would have pled him to the misdemeanor.
7:22 pm on Thursday called Srebnick out for not requesting lessers.
7:29 pm on Thursday made the same criticism of Srebnick.
8:44 am on Friday also agreed that Srebnick should have asked for lessers.
10:02 am on Friday. Did not seem to agree with the Srebnick team foregoing lessers. Guess they got that right.
9:41 am on Saturday Guess he won’t need his connections to get his pardon and to get out of that 30 year prison sentence you had him serving.
6:20 pm on Saturday. Same for you and Pino needing to contact his dear friends to arrange for a pardon. You must have predicted the Thunder to win the NBA this year. Also you had him getting taken into custody as soon as he was found guilty.
7:29 pm on Saturday also had Pino getting a pardon.
4:09 pm on Sunday predicted a hung jury.
8:22 am on Sunday predicted a three hour guilty verdict. And prison.
You would never know that criminal defense lawyers read and comment on this blog.
One. Just one commenter got it right. Every other comment was dead wrong.
Friday. 1:16 pm. Who else but the Trialmaster said “I see a NOT GUILTY”.
The rest of you should be ashamed. You all try cases all day long and none of you had anything positive to say about Pino’s defense team. And you all had a guilty verdict in Pino’s future. Prison time. And a pardon.
A tragedy in every sense of the word. One young woman dead. Another brain damaged for life. A very sad case.
Captain Out …..
Captain4Justice@gmail.com
It was still the worst defense money could buy. I thought they did a poor job overall but was saved by fwc.
Wealth has its privileges. Or does it? If his name were Joe Average from Sweetwater, working as a mechanic at Firestone, would he have been charged? I doubt it.
Srebnick’s closing was a masterpiece. It should be mandatory for every lawyer to watch. There are too many lessons to draw from it—including substance, precision, credibility, deliberate, focus, even temperament, poise, empathy, common sense, emotional appeal (for both sides), and the occasional boundary pushing argument (sometimes without objection)—which ultimately contributed to disarming the prosecution and resonating with the jury. Speaking of the jury, evidently this is where the defense won the case by empaneling a mostly male panel.
But this case was about much more, including a shoddy BUI investigation which denied justice to the victims and doomed the case from the start and pressure to overcharge. While the state did the best with the evidence they had and seemed to at times score valid and persuasive points, the delivery of that evidence—namely, the style of the lead prosecutor (e.g., tone, temperament, voice inflection, facial expressions, personal attacks on the defendant, defense lawyers, and defense witnesses alike)—tanked its effectiveness.
In the end, the victims and their families are all that matter. Two different yet equally profound losses that should’ve and could’ve been prevented. Which, if nothing else, should serve a small measure of justice as Pino will undoubtedly be haunted by his actions (and inactions) for the rest of his life.
Wishing Katy a speedy recovery and may Lucy’s memory be a blessing.
Once the judge read the instruction that said that mere negligence is not manslaughter, the cake was baked.
I still think Laura crossed the line when she yelled at the defendant. I once had a court appointment client who gave the middle finger to a prosecutor in front of the jury and that ASA kept his cool and just ignored it. Jury came back strong arm and not armed so, he got out soon. Somehow the jury thought that a broken beer bottle was not a weapon. Must have been my good lawyering. Laura takes this stuff way to personally.
Laura's demeanor hurt this case. She was mad and it showed. Not mad at the defendant per se. Mad because this wasn't a slam dunk case like she's used to prosecuting. This one had room for doubt. And like any prosecutor who gets used guilt, guilt, guilt and judges ruling their way, she got used to having it her way. That jury picked up on her demeanor and some might have realized that if she was that mad during the trial, something was off about her case. They didn't buy what she tried to sell.
Laura lost the case. She’s too sassy. Thank god he’s free as he deserves
agreed on all points with 6.22.59. He was very effective. And i must say the female defense lawyer did great too.
She does take this stuff too personally. She's not well-regulated. She's vengeful and petty, without a sense of proportion. She weeps when she loses, even a case that should never have gotten to trial. A bit messianic. A close colleague suffered a fatal heart attack while defending his client against her unreasoning unquenchable personal fury. She knows what she did.
First and foremost, Srebnick should be congratulated on an excellent job. Everyone asks "who is to blame?" No easy answer but it starts with the FWC and their incompetent handling of the crime scene and their inexcusable failure to take Pino's blood. It continues with the assigned ASA who was way too aggressive whose demeanor hurt an otherwise very good government presentation in court. Think about it. What relevance does a photograph of Pino 3 months after the accident smiling at his daughters graduation have to do with Pino's guilt or innocence?? Absolutely nothing. Just a cheap shot which smacks of governmental desperation.
It’s easy to only take the easy cases to trial. Laura isnt afraid to try tough cases. People may not like her style but overall I am glad she is at the SAO.
That Tink let in, the photo was irrelevant, immaterial and a total abuse of discretion, evidence of another time, after the event, that did not even constitute inextricably intertwined or Williams rule evidence. Things that always seems to happen at least a few times on every case she presides over.
I agree with you Captain Justice on everything you said, and will add that if none of the posts are from prosecutors, the posts sadly paint a picture that some of the defense attorneys at the REG are real weasels and a major reason the SAO gets away with as much as it does. You all know who you are, probably the same ones that feed info to the Abuhoffs, Mitchells and Khalil's about your fellow colleagues and their clients.
Its pretty pathetic that you all criticize a lawyer and defense team who did a very good job painting the right picture of their client as a human who did not set out to cause this death and who is remorseful. Opposite Laura Adams who is as objective as a Hatfield or McCoy. She was very unprofessional going after the defendant she was prosecuting and the jury saw it. Worse, going after the man's wife. She sealed the fate of her non-existent case there!
Even more pathetic is that some of you wanted this man to go to prison not for what he did but because he is rich and successful and claim--without proof, only suspicion that he was given a free pass because of his wealth.
Laura too wanted him to pay for his success, perhaps she and all of you I am talking to should have worked harder, or been smarter. Its never too late!
Finally, constitutional law is built on cops screwing up investigations even on cases that involve indigent defendants.
Rump,
Srebnick did a great job. Having said that, was going through this trial the best decision for Pino? He has probably aged 5 years within a few months with this stress. How many clients have we all represented at trial who were able to keep their composure. I do not believe that the "crying" was planned and Srebnick would have never allowed that. But clearly, he is an emotional wreck. Pino's wife and daughters have been visibly impacted stressing over Pino's future. The Fernandez's and boat occupants have had to relive this horrific tragedy after 4 years now. The trial was all over the news. This publicity cannot be good for Pino's business or in the social circles he travels in. I used to work with Andy Fernandez when we were both at the Pd's and my heart goes out to him.
The alternative surely would have been a withhold to a (M2) boating infraction and sealing the arrest record in 6 months. I realize this was a was a good case for the defense, and without proof of impairment by alcohol, a reasonable juror would conclude this was an accident. However, was the stress and risk of this trial worth it in Pino's situation? Pino will always now be publicly associated with this tragedy in a way that he would have never been if closed out with the M2. Thoughts?
I agree that the mostly male jury was key to the acquittal. I have Mom's brain (which is apparently stronger than my lawyer brain), because I was with Laura.
She's the State, if they're going to trial it should be an easy case. I wonder what Tinkler Mendez would have done at sentencing. It is crazy that she let in pictures of the defendant doing family things months after the crash.
I was wondering about the relevance of those photos too. It really seemed like a reach.
Sounds like most height handicapped male ASA’s
Segway the pipeline my bro
FYI M2 was never offered
Bravo to 4:22 pm. You nailed it. I agree with Captain Justice as well.
Captain, we still don’t have a new DCA judge? What’s the deal?
I don’t think she wanted that case
Laura means well but, this should not have been filed in the first place. This is all because she takes all of her cases as personal attacks on negligent people.
I dont think it’s that she wants to go after negligent people, I think she believes in the cause of victims and their families. She shouldn’t take cases so personally.
Congratulations to Larry Handfield for the acquittal of his client Precious Bland with an NGI, and for his perspicacity in trying it to the bench - Judge De La O. Well-done sir.
the trialmaster is almost always right.
So the State put on a week's worth of evidence and the jury came back with a not guilty verdict in 90 minutes? Bye Laura and bye Kathy. Also, I can understand some judges ruling on hearsay evidence incorrectly. But how do you allow irrelevant evidence? Oh so the Pinos went on a vacation after the incident. Oh well that for sure is relevant to the incident because it shows he's not sorry enough. Objection overruled. Right Tink?
I tend to agree. It's great for Srebnick, but I did not like how they defended the case. However, he won so what can I say in the end?
I didn't like the look of 4 attorneys. I didn't like that Silvaggi was solely brought on to question the girls. The male associate was totally out of his league when he argued case law. I didn't like that Pino spent $30,000 on bullshit doctors that probably did zero for the case.
I didn't like that but for FWC screwing the pooch, this is a quick guilty.
Srebnick is getting his flowers, but let's not think he did a great job during the trial (how many of you actually watched it).
After Pino’s wife claimed he was so sad after the accident, he and family posting on social media his fun family trip months after Lucy died. That family is garbage, but state did not prove recklesness.
Bye Laura and Bye Kathy? Nothing unethical here like with Von Zamft - just a difference of interpretation of what is reckless with death of a teenager. Not ever easy distinctions, but glad SAO put it to a jury
The case was weak and should not have been charged. Howard also did a fantastic job and it’s easy to see why he is so successful. Regardless, if my family was ever the victim of a terrible crime in Miami, I would absolutely want Laura as the lead ASA. She is an excellent attorney and a good person and I disagree with all the hate on here against her. And I have tried very serious cases against her.
If you think Laura took this case to personally, you should have seen how she handled cases when she was in charge of sex battery. Every defendant was a personal mission to ruin.
What is the status of Bronwyn Miller
Today is a great day!
If the worst thing people say about Adams is that she cares too much about her cases - think she wont lose sleep over that. I give her credit for trying a tough case.
One REG fact that not sure has been mentioned is that Andy Fernandez (Lucy's Dad) was a state Public Defender and tried cases in REG himself as a young lawyer. But enough about the lawyers, this case is about Lucy, her family and Pino. Although the jury found him to not be a criminal, Pino showed his true character by his actions after the terrible accident. But he will have to live with what happened. As for Lucy, her family is trying to make a difference in the lives of others with their foundation and that shows their character!
That's what really bothered me the most, his inactions and his behavior in the immediate aftermath of the crash that he caused.
It's true. No sense of proportion or balance in those cases. She wanted to personally flay anyone who had ever committed a sex crime, no matter how remote or relatively minor, for the slightest non-willful infraction of any of the scores of statutory constraints. I've seen judges recoil from her deranged histrionics. That is not professional zeal. That is emotional dysregulation.
"we will NOT post nasty, character attacks on anyone" - proceeds to post attacks calling prosecutor deranged
Why are you quiet while the governor and attorney general go headhunting for one of our best judges???
He had a concussion according to the medical expert
I agree about not posting stuff calling Laura Adams insulting names but, I've seen how she really enjoys ruining people's lives when they commit a serious crime. Sorry, I am not a Laura Adams fan. Everything is personal to Laura.
That's not a character attack. That's an observed fact.
enjoys ruining who’s life? the pillowcase rapist? child rapists?
The original boating misdemeanor charges were appropriate. It was obvious that this was an accident. Tragic, yes, but still an accident. The vessel homicide and manslaughter felonies were an overcharge resulting, not from facts or evidence, but from the pressure from the Miami Herald's articles. The not guilty verdict was clearly foreseeable since the felonies were filed.
The truth is not libel or slander
Seems like Laura pissed a lot of people off by fighting hard for her cases.
Defense didn't win, state lost. Specifically Laura, cause why was Borst even there? To carry the boxes?
what are they supposed to do, shrivel up and never live again? Stop.
the docket is public
This was only a "tough case" because it never should've been filed. Its "tough" to win when you have no evidence of the crimes you charged.
agreed. SAO shouldn't make filing decisions based on public pressure, but on evidence
No, she pissed a lot of people off by her unreasoning rigidity and sadistic relish in causing unnecessary pain, under the guise of fighting hard. Here's an example: a highly-decorated career military officer downloaded pornography. There were nine pictures of kids in the cache. He pled guilty, served 3 years in prison. After his release, Laura fought hard to force him to move out of the home he shared with his wife, even rallying his neighbors, claiming he had violated the sex offender residence restriction. He did not, so she lost. Then he moved for supervised visitation with his minor grandchildren. His very accomplished kids wanted him to be with their kids - he'd been a wonderful father to them. The forensic psychologists found him to pose no risk to kids. His wife, an esteemed long-time educator, was to supervise his visitation with the grandchildren. Laura fought hard to keep him from ever seeing his grandchildren under any conditions. At the hearing, Laura tried to introduce into evidence the adult pornography the man had downloaded. Sound familiar? Needless to say, the judge said no and ruled against the state
There's nothing inherently good about fighting hard. The crusaders fought hard. Being a zealot is not the same as zealous representation.
No, Laura didn't piss off anyone for fighting hard. You got that wrong. If you ever had a case with her when she ran the sex bat department, you would know how much she enjoys ruining people's lives. She was famous for over charging and then making plea bargains so that the defendant could never have a life again. Once on a vehicle homicide case, she told a buddy of mine that she knew it was an over charge but, wanted some form of punishment for the guy going fast. That should have resulted in her being fired. Yea, right!
Laura is known for overcharging to gain a negotiating position and also known to blame others when she screws something up or fails to supervise her cases properly. Time to go Ms. Adams. we hope KFR is finally seeing this all for what it is and always has been.
8:05:44 am: "Wonderful fathers" don't look at kiddie porn.
Imagine waking up on a beautiful Sunday morning and deciding to post comments about an ASA anonymously on the blog. Get a life.
Imagine acting like a brand new ASA in county court who is so unable to control their emotions that you tattle tell on a Defendant. "Judge, I didn't see it but I was told the defendant was doing something" LMAO! I expect that from 25 year olds who have no experience in court.
After Pinos hysterical breakdown in front of the jury that caused the judge to suspend court for a day and his behavior during sidebars hugging friends and family, the judge admonished him and his attorneys to cut the shit. Especially when he was seated right next to jurors and huffing and puffing. I saw it all on court tv.
I'm sure that reductionist generalizations are comforting. So you be you.
Imagine waking up every day and deciding to mercilessly persecute people who have paid their debt to society, are trying to lead productive lives, to reunite with their families, to reintegrate into society, and to worship, after years of court-ordered therapy, polygraph tests, and clinical determinations that they pose no risk of reoffense.
I have a life -- one that's involved trying to protect clients from vicious and unreasoning prosecutorial overreach. Nearly every defense lawyer in town has had such experiences with Adams. I'd be interested in hearing from others.
Hi 8:05 am. You're talking about [name removed by Rumpole] the guy with over 20 images of child porn of little girls between ages of 5 and 12. Who wanted unsupervised contact with his grandkids including a 10 year old girl. If you think that’s a reasonable request you are out of touch with reality. He should have served more than 3 years in prison. But the SAO made a fair/lenient deal that included no unsupervised contact with minors when he was on probation. Sometimes defense attorneys take their clients’ cases a little too personally. Just sayin’.
The judge thought it was an entirely reasonable request, as did the forensic psychologist Adams frequently relies on, and defendant's own adult children. 3 years in prison was then the average if not above for the offense. He sought supervised, not unsupervised visitation, a condition not precluded by his plea agreement. Under the law, a defendant in his position may move for supervised visitation, subject to stringent conditions. The judge found he had met them.
Post a Comment