Lawyers for victims say they should have had the 914-page law enforcement document six months ago
SM COURTHOUSE — Victims of the July 16 Farmer’s Market crash deserve access to a 914-page accident report prepared by the California Highway Patrol, a judge ruled Thursday.
Prosecutors had kept the report confidential while a criminal investigation continues to build against Russell Weller, 87, the Santa Monica man who drove through the market nearly a year ago, killing 10 and injuring dozens of people. Weller has been charged with 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter and is scheduled to stand trial this fall.
Lawyers for the victims have argued for months that the CHP report should be viewed as a public document and be released by authorities. Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Valerie Baker agreed to order the report released, but said she will wait to do so until Tuesday, when she also will decide whether to limit access to it.
“Given the passage of time since the Farmer’s Market tragedy, preservation of testimony in the civil case is crucial,” Judge Baker told more than a dozen lawyers involved in the case. “And further delay... would very likely prejudice the plaintiffs in the civil cases, who have suffered considerable injury.”
A preliminary criminal trial against Weller, a retired grocer, is scheduled for Oct. 12. Jim Bianco, one of several lawyers representing Weller, said Thursday the elderly man’s failing health has continued to deteriorate since the crash. Weller has remained secluded in his house on 25th Street north of Montana Avenue.
Meanwhile, at least 13 civil cases have been filed against Weller, the city of Santa Monica and the Bayside District Corp., a nonprofit organization that manages downtown. Lawyers for the victims argue City Hall and Bayside also were responsible for the accident because they didn’t erect barriers like the ones on the Third Street Promenade which would have prevented Weller’s 1992 Buick LeSabre from entering the market.
Civil proceedings have taken a back seat to the ongoing criminal cases thus far, but lawyers are pushing to have that changed. Some of the plaintiffs in the case are elderly and want resolution, while others are worried too much time has passed since the crash and key witnesses need to be interviewed now.
A temporary restriction barring lawyers in the civil case from interviewing Weller and witnesses expires this summer, before the criminal trial begins.
Prosecutors indicated Thursday they would fight against giving lawyers access, adding they might even fight Judge Baker’s decision to release the CHP report.
Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle, who’s prosecuting Weller, said if access is granted next week as expected, it’s crucial to restrict the report to lawyers involved in the case and their experts. Otherwise, information could be widely distributed and influence jury selection in the criminal case, added Rundle, who said she already has been contacted by several major media outlets, including the television news magazine, “60 Minutes.”
The National Transportation and Safety Board acquired an edited copy of the CHP report with witness names deleted. Officials from the government agency studied it and plans to publicize their findings in the middle of July, Rundle added.
While some lawyers for the victims agreed the report should be kept under a protective order, others said the document should be considered public and released to all interested parties.
West-LA based litigator Michael Piuze — who is representing victims in the civil cases — told Judge Baker he thought the CHP report, as well as documents from the Santa Monica Police Department’s own investigation, ought to have been released months ago.
“I don’t know why there has to be a big deal with a protective order. I don’t know why this document can only be given to the attorneys here,” Piuze said, breaking the quiet mood in the courtroom. “I can’t imagine why the District Attorney’s Office... would want to keep this information from the people.”
In the end, Judge Baker put over a decision on the protective order until next week and invited parties on both sides to make further arguments, both in writing and orally. She also is expected to decide at that time whether portions of the CHP report should be deleted to protect the names, addresses, medical records and other information of victims or witnesses not involved in the lawsuits.
Attorney Stan Jacobs said in his 44 years as a lawyer, he had never seen a police report censored.
“They’re witnesses to an accident,” he said. “They’re witnesses to a tragedy. What reason do we have to withhold their telephone numbers? They’re written down in every CHP report I’ve ever read.”
The push to have the lengthy CHP report released was spearheaded by attorney Steven Archer, and later joined by lawyers representing other victims. Archer represents Melissa Greenstein, a pediatric nurse who was visiting Santa Monica when Weller drove through the market and struck her. The crash broke Greenstein’s foot and back, as well as her hips and several ribs, Archer said.
“She hasn’t been released from care,” Archer said after the hearing, adding Greenstein underwent multiple surgeries and has been flown home to the East Coast. “She’s still receiving therapy. She’s not returned to work. She’ll probably never return to the type of work she was doing.”
Asked if Greenstein harbored any resentment towards Weller for the fatal crash, Archer replied, “It’s a car accident. Car accidents happen.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 25, 2004. Read the original PDF.