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# Crash victims denied access to accident report
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/crash-victims-denied-access-to-accident-report/
- Published: 2004-05-21T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:21:51.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Weller’s car insurance capped out at $500K*

SM COURTHOUSE — Victims of the fatal July 16 Farmers’ Market crash won’t gain access to an extensive accident report prepared by the California Highway Patrol for at least another month, a judge ruled Thursday.

With criminal charges pending against Russell Weller, 87, lawyers for the victims also have been unable to interview him in an effort to build a case against him. Weller, who was driving west on Arizona Avenue, hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and sped through the outdoor market. Ten people were killed, and dozens of others were injured.

A temporary order will expire next month that so far has kept Weller and the report off limits to lawyers handling the civil cases. Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Valerie Baker said she will consider granting the lawyers access before evidence is lost or becomes stale. Weller’s health has deteriorated rapidly since the crash, his lawyers said.

Lawyers for the victims said they want to review the report because it reportedly includes an interview with Weller and key witnesses to the accident. But prosecutors pledged to fight the release of the report, which they claim is confidential as part of the ongoing criminal case against Weller, who faces 10 counts of manslaughter. Tim Walker, Weller’s Long Beach-based civil defense attorney, said he had no objection to sharing the document with other lawyers.

“The plaintiffs in the civil litigation are entitled to have a copy of the California Highway Patrol report, and I hope they have an opportunity to get it,” he said.

About a dozen civil lawsuits have been filed against Weller and Santa Monica City Hall by victims of the accident. Lawyers said City Hall is being targeted because it didn’t erect protective barriers at both ends of the market.

“They failed to put up barriers,” attorney John Wolf said. “They failed to put up barriers on Arizona Avenue — the same ones they put up on Third Street.”

Whether or not lawyers can pin liability on City Hall likely will become the most contested part of the case as the assets of Weller, a retired grocer who lives with his wife in a small house north of Montana Avenue, will be quickly exhausted. Walker told the court Thursday that Weller’s car insurance policy provided for $250,000 per person, with a maximum of $500,000 per accident.

Civil cases stemming from the market crash are considered related, and all are being handled by Judge Baker at the Santa Monica Courthouse.

Fourteen lawyers were in court on the matter Thursday, including Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle and Jim Bianco, one of Weller’s criminal defense lawyers, as well as attorneys for City Hall and the Bayside District Corp., the nonprofit organization that manages downtown. Bayside also has been sued for liability.

In asking for access to the report, lawyers for the victims argued too much time had already passed since the deadly accident.

“It seems to me that we’re getting caught up with labels. I want a traffic accident report, that’s all I want,” said attorney Steven Archer, referring to the CHP report. “I can’t see that that’s a conflict all of a sudden.”

Another issue expected to be dealt with by Judge Baker at the hearing next month is whether Weller can be pursued for punitive damages. Attorney Arnoldo Casillas said he wants to keep that option open, even though Weller’s assets are few. Casillas represents the families of 3-year-old Cindy Valladeres and 35-year-old Gloria Gonzalez, both of whom died in the crash.

“We allege he did it intentionally, after driving through the barrier,” Casillas said after the Thursday hearing. “That he did it maliciously.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 21, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052104.pdf?ref=smdp.com)