Defense claims Weller, 89, needs 24-hour home care
DOWNTOWN LA — Supporters of the 89-year-old man convicted of killing 10 people three years ago when he drove his car through a crowded Farmers’ Market are asking that he be sentenced to probation, given his rapidly deteriorating health and strong feelings of guilt and remorse.
In court papers released Tuesday, defense attorneys and the daughter of George Russell Weller joined with a half-dozen friends of the longtime Santa Monica resident in urging a judge to grant probation, insisting Weller would “pose absolutely no risk” and has “repeatedly acknowledged fault and expressed sorrow and concern for the victims.”
“A grant of probation to Mr.
Weller would not pose even a ‘minimal risk’ to society; It would pose absolutely no risk,” Weller’s attorneys wrote. “Mr. Weller has lived an exemplary life for a period longer than most of us may live and his present physical condition necessarily confines him to his home.”
In an Oct. 26 declaration, Weller’s primary care physician, Dr. Eileen McGrath, wrote that a recent CAT scan of the 89-year-old appears to disclose a condition involving a form of fluid on the brain. She noted that Weller had been to a hospital emergency room at least three times within a 10-day period and “has undergone a noticeable decline in physical function,” including losing his ability to walk.
“Mr. Weller now has 24-hour home care and I anticipate the need for round-the-clock nursing assistance for the foreseeable future,” McGrath states.
Weller also suffers from prostate cancer and a heart block, according to court papers.
Weller, who was 86 at the time of the crash, was convicted Oct. 20 of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and is set to be sentenced Monday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson has the option of sending Weller to prison for up to 18 years.
Prosecutors Ann Ambrose and Sam Dordulian said they felt it was appropriate to send Weller to prison if no extraordinary circumstances were found. They called for an independent medical and psychological assessment of Weller in order to determine his exact medical conditions and physical abilities.
“The defendant killed 10 innocent people and injured as many as 68 additional victims,” Ambrose and Dordulian wrote. “All of the expert witnesses agreed that, in all of their experience and research, this was the worst single car traffic incident any of them had ever heard of. The defendant left behind a trail of carnage so extreme that numerous trial witnesses wept when describing the incident three years later.”
The prosecutors have also demanded that Weller pay restitution to the victims and their families. So far, victims have received $28,200, according to court papers.
Each felony conviction in relation to the July 16, 2003 crash carries a mandatory fine between $200 and $10,000, and “given the circumstances of this crime, the court should impose the maximum,” prosecutors argued.
Weller’s conviction has sparked a debate amongst legal experts and residents as to whether or not a prison sentence should be issued for a man who is in the last stages of his life. Some have called the prosecution overly aggressive while others have called for Weller to be punished given the severity of the crime.
In a letter to the court, Weller’s daughter, Meredith Edens, called on Judge Johnson to allow her father to spend his remaining days at home with his wife of 67 years, Harriet, a 90-year-old who has suffered from a series of small strokes.
“Before the accident, he was energetic, lively and interested in the world,” Edens wrote. “Now he is isolated, stays at home, almost never leaves the house and is completely immobile... My father is about to turn 90 years old and is truly worn out. He has given up and is only holding it together because of my mother. In fact, he told me that if anything happened to Harriet, he would not live much longer.
“He is dying before our eyes,” Edens added.“We have reassured him that it was an accident, but he simply cannot forgive himself.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 16, 2006. Read the original PDF.