Crime & Safety
Deadly Clearwater Ferry Crash Trial Set In Pinellas County: Reports
A trial date has been set for Jeffrey Knight, the driver of a boat that crashed into the Clearwater Ferry, killing 1, injuring others.
CLEARWATER, FL — A trial date has been set this fall for Jeff Knight, who faces 24 charges, including eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident involving injury, in April’s deadly Clearwater Ferry crash, according to reports.
He also faces 16 counts of violation of navigational rule 5 resulting in a boating accident, Pinellas County court records show.
The former Jannus Live owner was identified as the driver of a boat that slammed into the Clearwater Ferry, killing one person, a Palm Harbor father of two, 41-year-old Jose Castro, in April.
Find out what's happening in Clearwaterfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“They’re missing daddy every single day. It's very tough to have two little girls that the important person in their life is gone,” Castro’s sister told WTSP.
Nearly a dozen others were also injured in the crash.
Find out what's happening in Clearwaterfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Knight initially told investigators that he tried to help the ferry victims but left because his boat was taking on water.
He will head to court for trial on Oct. 5, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The date was set during a pre-trial hearing on Monday.
The next pre-trial hearing takes place May 4.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court Judge Pat Siracusa set the trial date despite pushback from Knight’s defense attorney, Kevin Hayslett.
“We’ve got 200 witnesses,” Hayslett told the judge, according to WFLA. “In this case, the videos are a little over 280 hours. I presume you would think I would watch the videos more than once. So we are asking for time to watch the videos more than once, depose the witnesses, get the reports.”
Siracusa told the attorney, according to WTSP, “You have extensive staff at your office, excellent, competent people that are going to allow you to exceed the expectations I have for other attorneys.”
The ferry’s captain, Dennis Kimerer, also faces a misdemeanor related to not having a working stern light on the boat at the time of the crash, reports said.
This Clearwater crash isn’t the first fatal boating incident that Knight has been involved in.
On Jan. 18, 2012, while socializing on his yacht — Pure Knight Life, which was docked near what was then called the Renaissance Vinoy Resort — a 49-year-old St. Petersburg man on board died after slipping while stepping from the boat and hitting his head, the Times said.
The victim’s friends, including Knight, pulled him from the water.
The man had alcohol and cocaine in his system, reports said. The Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office determined he drowned.
His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Knight.
Related:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
