Judge Weighs Whether Jurors Can Hear About Jeff Knight's 2019 Boat Crash in Clearwater Ferry Case

A Pinellas County judge is deciding whether jurors in the Clearwater Ferry crash case will hear about a 2019 boat collision involving Jeffry "Jeff" Knight, the boater charged with leaving the scene of the April 2025 crash that killed one passenger and injured 10 others. Prosecutors called witnesses from the earlier crash at a pretrial hearing this week, the Tampa Bay Times and WFLA reported.

Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa did not rule after the testimony. The hearing is set to continue, with a status check scheduled for Oct. 26 to decide when the court will resume taking evidence, according to WFLA. Knight's trial is scheduled for February 2027.

The ruling could shape one of the most closely watched boating cases in Tampa Bay in years. Prosecutors say the 2019 crash shows Knight knew the rules of the water. The defense says it is an attempt to paint him as a bad person.

The ferry crash and the charges

On the evening of April 27, 2025, Knight's 37-foot boat struck the Clearwater Ferry near the Memorial Causeway bridge as the ferry carried passengers from Clearwater Beach. The collision was reported at 8:43 p.m., near dusk, according to the Times. Jose Castro, 41, of Palm Harbor, was killed, and 10 other people were injured.

Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Knight left the scene and headed south toward his home before deputies stopped him on the water. News reports have differed on which sheriff's office made the stop. Police found Knight and his boat about 3.5 miles away, and about four hours after the crash he passed two breath tests, according to the Times. Officers said they did not suspect impairment.

FWC arrested Knight on July 28, 2025. He is charged with eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident involving death or serious bodily injury, along with 16 misdemeanor navigation rule violations tied to failing to keep a proper lookout and a safe speed. He is not charged with vessel homicide or boating under the influence. Knight has pleaded not guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by the office of Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bruce Bartlett. After the arrest, Bartlett said Knight could face significant prison time because of the death and serious injury counts, according to reports at the time.

Knight's defense

Knight's attorney, J. Kevin Hayslett, has said Knight stayed at the scene for about 10 minutes to render aid and left only because his boat was taking on water. Knight has also said he could not see the ferry's navigation lights, and his defense has alleged the ferry lacked proper lighting and that its crew was distracted by dolphins, the Times reported.

The ferry's captain, Dennis Kimerer, was cited for a navigation rule violation. In May, he pleaded guilty to a civil infraction and accepted responsibility for the ferry's stern light being out at the time of the crash, according to the Times.

The 2019 crash at the center of the hearing

Prosecutors filed notice that they want jurors to hear about a Sept. 2, 2019, collision just north of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. In that crash, Knight's boat struck the port side of a pontoon boat during the day with clear visibility. A woman aboard the pontoon was seriously injured, and three passengers were taken to the hospital, according to the Times.

Passengers said Knight had been going about 45 mph, and Knight said at the time that he had been looking at his GPS just before the collision, the Times reported. He was cited for careless operation, including failing to keep a proper lookout. All three citations were later dropped. Passengers sued him for negligence, and both suits settled for undisclosed amounts.

In Florida, evidence of other incidents is generally barred if it is offered only to show a defendant's character. It can be admitted under what lawyers call the Williams rule when it is relevant to something else, such as knowledge, intent or a common plan. That is the dispute before Siracusa.

What witnesses told the court

Prosecutors called four witnesses, none of whom was present at the 2025 ferry crash, the Times reported. They included two law enforcement officers, Knight's former longtime girlfriend, who was aboard his boat in 2019, and the Pinellas surgeon who was operating the pontoon.

The former girlfriend testified that Knight never asked her to act as a lookout and described seeing a badly injured woman on the front of the pontoon. She also said neither of them had been drinking. On cross-examination, testimony suggested a larger vessel may have blocked Knight's view of the pontoon, according to WFLA.

The surgeon testified that his wife was among those badly hurt, telling the court she was not breathing and had a weak pulse, the Times reported. "I've spent a lot of time trying to forget this," he said.

An officer who investigated the 2019 crash testified that the citations were dropped because no witnesses were available: two subpoenaed women were out of the country, the pontoon family was never subpoenaed, and a responding FWC officer missed a court date, according to the Times.

Knight did not attend the hearing. The Times reported he was recovering from hip surgery.

Arguments on both sides

Prosecutors told the court the 2019 crash was "eerily similar" to the ferry collision and argued it shows Knight understood the duty to maintain a proper lookout and travel at a safe speed, according to the Times and WFLA.

Hayslett countered that the two incidents happened under very different conditions, one in daylight and the other near dark, and that the only purpose of the evidence is to suggest bad character. He argued that a judge likely would have acquitted Knight had the 2019 case gone forward, and he criticized the investigating officer for failing to secure witnesses at the time. "This wasn't a technicality," he said, according to the Times. In a written motion, he argued the state's notice amounts to an admission that it does not trust its evidence from the 2025 crash.

A case that has moved slowly

The case has been delayed before. Trial was initially set for Oct. 5, 2026, but in May the start was pushed back to Feb. 1, 2027, according to Bay News 9. The state has also waited on a crash reconstruction report and U.S. Coast Guard records, and Castro's family has pressed for the Coast Guard's findings to be released, according to earlier reports by FOX 13 and WFLA.

The crash drew wide attention in Pinellas County because the Clearwater Ferry is a popular water taxi linking downtown Clearwater and Clearwater Beach, and because the evening collision raised questions about speed, lighting and lookout duties for boaters sharing the waters around the Memorial Causeway.

What's next

The Williams rule hearing will continue, and the parties return to court Oct. 26 for a status check. Siracusa is expected to rule on the 2019 evidence after hearing the remaining testimony. Trial remains set for Feb. 1, 2027. Knight is presumed innocent, and none of the allegations has been proved in court.