Bennett Video: 'I Didn't Hit And Run'

The defendant in the case of two 2012 Lake Lanier boating deaths said that "I didn't hit and run," according to a video that was played in a Hall County courtroom Thursday.

According to a report in the Gainesville Times, Paul Bennett of Cumming described jumping into the lake water with a flotation cushion after the collision with another boat in June 2012.

“I didn’t hit and run; I jumped in the water," Bennett said in the video. "I didn’t know what to do. There were two kids. There was panic, total panic — chaos. I didn’t know what to do."

Bennett is on trial for several charges in connection with the boating collision that killed Griffin Prince, 13, and Jake Prince, 9, of Buford.

The video was of an interview that Department of Natural Resources officials conducted with Bennett after the boating collision.

Also Thursday, Bennett's attorney, Barry Zimmerman, noted a discrepancy over the time that Bennett’s blood was drawn, after he was transported to the Hall County Jail. The state said the warrant to draw blood from Bennett was acquired about 8 a.m., and the blood was drawn at about 9:30 a.m.

Paperwork reads that the blood was drawn around 5:30 a.m.

DNR Ranger Mark Stephens, who wrote the report, said he made a mistake in the paperwork.

Charges against Bennett include homicide by vessel, boating under the influence, and failure to render aid.

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• Court Date Is Near for Defendant in Prince Brothers' Boating Deaths
• Bennett Indicted in Fatal Lake Lanier Boating Collision
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