Clearwater Ferry crash: Jeff Knight back in court for pre-trial hearing

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The man who's accused of crashing his boat into the Clearwater Ferry was back in court on Monday.

Jeff Knight, a prominent St. Pete businessman, is accused of crashing his boat into the back of the Clearwater Ferry in April. Knight is facing eight counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident involving injury and 16 counts of violation of navigational Rule 6 resulting in a boating accident.

RELATED: Jeff Knight pleads not guilty in deadly Clearwater Ferry crash

He was in court in Pinellas County on Monday for another pre-trial hearing.

The backstory:

Knight was the owner of Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, but he stepped down just days after crashing his private vessel into the Clearwater Ferry that was carrying 45 passengers. Jose Castro was killed, and multiple other people were injured after the crash near the Memorial Causeway on April 27.

A months-long investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began and officials said that Knight left the scene and started heading home before Pasco Sheriff's Office deputies stopped him in the water.

PREVIOUS: Pretrial hearing for Jeffry Knight months after deadly Clearwater crash

Initially, Knight told investigators that he tried rendering aid to ferry passengers, but left because his boat was taking on water.

In an electronic data search warrant issued by FWC, it was revealed that passengers on Knight's boat told investigators after the crash, Knight was panicked and told them, "My life is over. I'm going to lose everything," and tried to stop them from calling 911. The warrant also alleges Knight's all-around white light was not displayed on his boat.

Dennis Kimerer, the captain of the Clearwater Ferry, was also charged with violating a navigation rule for failing to have a working stern light at the time of the crash.

Jeff Knight's pre-trial hearing

On Monday, Knight was present in court with his attorney, J. Kevin Hayslett. The state said it's waiting for a full report from a crash reconstructionist, which it hopes to receive in March.

READ: Clearwater Ferry crash: Here's what led to Jeffry Knight’s arrest months after deadly boat strike

The state prosecutor said they've also been unsuccessful in getting a response to requests for reports from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Knight's last pre-trial hearing was in October.

What they're saying:

"We were attempting to get any reports from the Coast Guard," the prosecutor said. "Government was shut down for the federal government for a period of time from that last hearing until now, so that caused some delays. We have gotten back from the Coast Guard, still have not received any reports. We have requested them. Given they're the federal government, a subpoena isn't going to get the documents we are requesting. We'll continue to keep requesting, but at this time we don't have it in hand."

The state said the Coast Guard was one of the responding agencies to the scene within minutes of the crash.

"We have tried to get those reports, really just to include the narrative of what they're observing and writing down the reports," the prosecutor said. "We don't have those."

MORE: Search warrant: Jeff Knight ‘panicked’ and told his passengers to stop calling 911 after deadly ferry crash

The state expects to call 40-50 witnesses during the trial, which they expect will last about three weeks. The judge tentatively set Knight's trial for October 5.

Dig deeper:

The family of Jose Castro was at Monday's hearing and expressed hope that a trial date had been set.

"I'm very happy that the judge wants to see this sooner," Sandy Todd, Castro's sister, said. "The sooner, the better. We want to heal, and as soon as this is over, it's going to be strong for us to close this chapter."

Todd doesn't want any other family to go through what she and her family have been going through. Castro was a father of two young daughters.

"He destroyed my family," Todd said. "Every day is a challenge for us, learning how to live again and be happy."

The other side:

Knight's attorney said he filed a motion, asking the judge for more time in the pre-trial process due to an extensive amount of evidence. Hayslett noted the amount of time Knight could face if convicted and other similar cases, which he says have taken as long as three years to go to trial.

RELATED: Clearwater Ferry crash: Injured passenger sues Jeffry Knight, claims he made negligent mistakes

"I looked also at the number of witnesses in those cases," Hayslett said. "Those average 12 witnesses. We've got 200 witnesses. In this case, the videos are a little over 280 hours. I presume you'd think that I would probably watch the videos more than once. I've been spending about 22 hours a week watching videos. I've not gone through all the videos yet."

The defense said the depositions and other pre-trial proceedings will be extremely time-consuming.

"I'm just asking to get the same dispensation and the same time to prepare for someone who's looking at basically a life sentence, be that 23 years," Hayslett said. "My client, he's not a spring chicken, but it's still a significant amount of time if he's convicted. So, we're asking for time to watch the videos more than once, depose the witnesses, get the reports."

What's next:

Knight's next pre-trial hearing has been set for May 4. The judge expressed an interest in keeping things moving and avoiding pushing the trial into 2027.

"If we wait until May to start setting, picking a trial date, we're definitely going to be picking a trial date in 2027," Hon. Pat Siracusa said. "And, I had aspired to pick a trial day in 2026, if it was possible."

The judge said they could have a new discussion about the trial date at Knight's next pre-trial hearing.

ClearwaterCrime and Public Safety