Details of market crash expected to be released
Nearly every detail of the July 16 Farmer’s Market crash recorded by investigators in a 914-page report should become public, according to a tentative ruling handed down Wednesday.
Included in the report are interviews with elderly driver Russell Weller, his wife and dozens of witnesses, as well as details about Weller’s health and driving record. Weller, 87, of Santa Monica, killed 10 people and injured 63 when he plowed through an outdoor market last summer.
The decision to release the report was a change in course for Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Valerie Baker, who’s kept the report sealed to protect the ongoing criminal case. Judge Baker was set to release a heavily edited version of the report Wednesday, but changed her mind after lawyers for the Los Angeles Times joined the court proceedings, arguing the entire report should be made public.
Prosecutors and Weller’s defense attorneys have fought vigorously to keep the report sealed. They fear that if its details are widely publicized it will impair their ability to select an impartial jury, and therefore prevent Weller from having a fair trial. Weller in January pleaded not guilty to 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. He is expected to stand trial this fall.
LA Times attorney Kelli Sager pointed to a variety of high-profile media cases, arguing the court is obligated under the First Amendment to release the report in its entirety.
Though Judge Baker went through the report section by section on Wednesday, explaining why each should be released, she will hear further argument on the hotly contested matter next week before she hands down a final ruling. In her tentative decision, Judge Baker said she carefully weighed First Amendment issues against the privacy rights of those listed in the report, as well as Weller’s right to a fair trial.
Judge Baker has overseen all of the civil lawsuits stemming from the fatal market crash, which in recent weeks have gained momentum. At least 13 civil cases have been filed against Weller, the City of Santa Monica and Bayside District Corp., a nonprofit organization that manages downtown. Lawyers said City Hall and Bayside were targeted because they should have known the accident could occur and should have erected barriers to prevent Weller’s 1992 Buick LeSabre from entering the market on Arizona Avenue.
More lawsuits are expected to be filed. Geoffrey Wells, who works at the high-profile downtown Santa Monica firm of Greene, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler, said he plans to file another 13 civil lawsuits next week. Four of those represent victims killed in the crash, and the other nine represent victims who were injured.
“We wanted to wait as long as we could, so we could try and get the report before (we filed the lawsuits), but that’s not going to happen,” Wells said Wednesday.
The one-year anniversary of the Farmer’s Market crash will be next Friday. While some victims harbor anger towards Weller for the fatal accident, others said they have forgiven him. But City Hall is another matter. Mark Miller, 40, who was struck as Weller sped through the market, said he thought the city should have known the accident could occur and done more to protect shoppers.
“Older people get confused and hit the gas instead of the brake. All those kinds of things happen, I think anyone could place themselves in those shoes,” said Miller, a filmmaker from Westchester. “(The city) could have easily prevented this. Prevented the sorrow, the suffering and the pain.”
Miller said he was at the market buying avocados, basil and flowers when he saw Weller’s car coming through the market and tried to run away. He wasn’t successful. Weller’s car struck him and threw him into the air, snapping both of his legs and breaking more than a dozen of his teeth.
“I heard people scream, ‘Look out’ and as I turned and looked over my left shoulder, I saw things flying up in the air,” said Miller, who now has a plate and several screws in each leg. “It looked like a tidal wave, or a special effect out of a movie.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 8, 2004. Read the original PDF.