City Hall may still have to pay millions
SM COURTHOUSE — Victims of the deadly Farmers’ Market crash moved one step closer to having their day in court when a Santa Monica Superior Court judge last week denied another motion by Bayside District Corp. to be dismissed from a civil lawsuit that could force the management company and City Hall to pay out millions in damages.
Judge Valerie Baker’s decision on Jan. 5 to deny Bayside’s motion for summary judgment allows the civil trial to move forward, with jury selection set for March 20 — nearly four years after the tragic crash, which took the lives of 10 people, including a 7-month-old boy.
“The judge’s ruling is an affirmation of our civil justice system, and the importance of the jury in determining whether or not Bayside District Corp. had a duty to protect the public it invited to attend the … Farmers’ Market,”said Geoffrey Wells, an attorney representing a handful of the plaintiffs.“Our job now is to get ready for trial... and to prove that all of the defendants should be held accountable for their role in this tragedy.”
The trial will most likely be delayed, however, because attorneys for the victims have been unable to interview the driver responsible for the accident, George Russell Weller.
The 90-year-old Santa Monica man has refused to participate in a deposition out of fear that his statements will be used against him as he appeals a criminal conviction for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Weller was convicted in October and sentenced to five years probation for his role in the crash at the Arizona Avenue outdoor marketplace.
Weller’s attorneys have filed an appeal and are still awaiting a response from the state Court of Appeals.
“I don’t expect one for months,” said Mark Overland, a member of Weller’s defense team.
Attorneys for the victims are also still awaiting a decision by Judge Baker on whether or not City Hall can be included in the civil trial.
Plaintiffs claim City Hall should be held liable for the accident, along with Weller and Bayside, because it failed to hire and put into place those who could properly barricade the market. Instead,City Hall and Bayside relied on clients of mental health provider Step Up on Second to place the barricades, which consisted of plastic sawhorses, attorneys for the plaintiffs said.
Step Up has since settled with the victims for $5 million, according to sources close to the negotiations.
City Hall was successful earlier this year in being removed from the case on the grounds of design immunity, but still faces a claim of vicarious liability. In the former argument, City Hall argued, and Baker agreed, that the traffic management plan for the market was approved by a licensed professional and, therefore, is protected under law from litigation.
The victims want to appeal that ruling, but must await Baker’s decision on the vicarious liability issue, which should come within the next week or two, said Wells.
“Depending on how that (ruling) goes, the city will be in for the trial or we will just have to proceed without them,” said Wells. “There will be mediations and settlement conferences set up in February in an attempt to get things resolved. We are coming up on four years since this tragic accident happened and people are looking for closure.”
Attorneys for City Hall could not be reached for comment.
Ten people were killed and more than 65 injured when Weller, then 86, drove his 1992 Buick LaSabre through a crowded Farmers’
Market on July 16, 2003. During the criminal trial, Weller’s attorneys argued that the former grocer had succumbed to “pedal error” — a rare phenomenon in which a panicked driver hits the accelerator rather than the brake — after rear-ending a Mercedes-Benz at the intersection of Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue.
Weller traveled 995 feet through the market at speeds of up to 60 mph, hurling pedestrians into the air before stopping, reads a California Highway Patrol report.
Jurors agreed with prosecutors, who said Weller had several opportunities to either stop his car or steer it away from pedestrians, but instead veered back and forth down Arizona Avenue, striking additional shoppers.
The civil suit claims that City Hall and Bayside, which helps City Hall manage and promote downtown, were negligent and reckless in conducting the market, which is held every Wednesday and Saturday. Under an agreement between the two entities, City Hall agreed to represent Bayside in any legal action and pay for damages awarded.
If found liable, Bayside and City Hall could be forced to pay at least $20 million, the amount available under City Hall’s insurance policy, said Wells.
“My clients want some kind of resolution by the end of this year,” Wells said. “If that’s OK by settlement, we’re OK with that.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.