Judge orders prosecutors to release edited version, but only to attorneys
SM COURTHOUSE — A Santa Monica judge ordered prosecutors to release an extensive police report of the July 16 Farmer’s Market crash on Tuesday, but only to lawyers working the case, and only with the driver’s license numbers and other personal details of witnesses deleted.
Lawyers involved in the civil cases against driver Russell Weller, 87, of Santa Monica, and the City of Santa Monica have waited six months to review the 914-page report, which was prepared by a special team of investigators from the California Highway Patrol. Weller left ten people dead and dozens injured by driving through a downtown market last summer.
Though she ordered the censored report released to lawyers, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Valerie Baker decided against making it public for fear that pre-trial publicity may impinge on Weller’s right to a fair criminal trial, scheduled to begin in October. Weller, whose health is failing, has remained secluded in
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 30, 2004. Read the original PDF.