Weller’s defense team fails to convince court that evidence doesn’t point to‘gross negligence’
LAX COURTHOUSE — The felony charges against the elderly driver who caused last summer’s Farmers’ Market crash are justified, a judge here ruled on Monday.
Russell Weller, 87, faces 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the fatal crash.
Defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully Monday that prosecutors haven’t shown sufficient cause that points to Weller being grossly negligent in the accident, a legal distinction that carries harsher penalties — a difference of 14 years in prison compared to misdemeanor charges.
By law, gross negligence is defined by behavior that is aggravated, reckless or flagrant. In California, a finding of negligence depends on what a “reasonable” person would do.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Katherine Mader disagreed. She found sufficient the current explanation given by LA Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle, who alleges Weller could have stopped at any time as he careened through the crowded downtown outdoor market on Arizona Avenue last July, leaving 10 dead and 63 injured. Judge Mader also set March 16 as the day Weller’s preliminary trial will be scheduled.
Overland said he was disappointed with the ruling. “That’s just nonsense,” Overland said. “All the evidence points to it and we’re going to present that evidence at the preliminary hearing... The expert witnesses, as well as the eye witnesses, will support that he did all he could to try to stop the car.”
“That’s just nonsense. All the evidence points to it and we’re going to present that evidence at the preliminary hearing...” — said Mark Overland, one of Weller’s criminal attorneys. — MARK OVERLAND Defense attorney
“We now have reviewed all the discovery provided to us and all the witness statements, and we still are convinced that there is no criminal responsibility — and, in fact, there was no gross negligence,”
Weller did not appear in court. He is not required to appear on March 16, but likely will attend his preliminary trial.
Overland said the preliminary trial — when lawyers lay out their evidence and a judge decides if the case should proceed to trial — will likely last two weeks. He added more than 50 expert and eye witnesses are expected to testify. Overland said some of the expert witnesses will testify that Weller suffered from a type of heart disease that may have caused the accident.
Asked when and for how long the actual trial might occur, Overland replied, “We’re not even there yet.”
The case against Weller, a retired wholesale grocer who lives with his wife in a house on 25th Street north of Montana Avenue, has garnered national attention. It’s seen by many as key to a debate over the safety of aging motorists, including whether some should be forced to forfeit driving privileges.
Weller wasn’t arrested after the accident. He remained free while the Santa Monica Police Department and the California Highway Patrol conducted a five-month investigation into the crash, finally concluding that Weller was traveling at an unsafe speed. The SMPD recommended to the LA District Attorney’s Office that it charge him with 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The DA’s Office charged him a few weeks later. Weller has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted on all counts, Weller, who hasn’t spoken in public since the accident nearly seven months ago, faces a possible sentence of probation to 18 years in prison. Without gross negligence, vehicular manslaughter is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Weller is charged in the deaths of Theresa Breglia, 50, of Bronx, N.Y.; Brendon Esfahani, 7 months, of Los Angeles; Molok Ghoulian, 62, of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzalez, 35, of Venice; Movsha Hoffman, 78, of Santa Monica; Leroy Lattier, 55, a transient; Diana McCarthy, 41, of New York, N.Y.; Kevin McCarthy, 50, of New York, N.Y.; Cindy Valladares, 3, of Los Angeles; and Lynne Ann Weaver, 47, of Woodland Hills.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2004. Read the original PDF.