DOWNTOWN LA — George Russell Weller had several opportunities to maneuver his Buick LaSabre away from a crowded Farmers’ Market more than three years ago, but instead chose to drive straight through it, slamming into unsuspecting shoppers who had nothing more to protect them than a “bag of strawberries,” a prosecutor said Thursday during closing statements in the 89-year-old’s criminal trial.
With pictures of broken and bloodied bodies and the word “OOPS!” projected on a screen behind her, Deputy District Attorney Ann Ambrose derided claims by Weller’s defense that his actions on July 16, 2003, were accidental; the tragic result of “pedal error.”
Instead of listening to expert witnesses who were not at the scene of the accident, Ambrose told jurors to concentrate on the testimony of more than 30 witnesses who said they saw Weller driving with intent, his hands planted firmly on the steering wheel as he swerved to avoid hitting trucks that might have stopped his sedan from ramming into one body after another, sending unsuspecting victims flying over his car hood.
One witness testified that he saw one of Weller’s victims flutter on the ground “as if you cut a chicken’s neck. I knew her spine was severed.”
In total, 68 people were injured and 10 killed, including a 7-month-old baby, on July 16, 2003, when Weller’s car sped through the bustling Farmers’ Market on Arizona Avenue in downtown Santa Monica.
“These people’s lives were not an ‘Oops,’” Ambrose said. “They all had a right to walk the streets assuming (Weller) would take caution and make all efforts to avoid taking their lives. Whether 86 or 16, when you are behind the wheel of a car, you have a duty to maintain control of that car and avoid killing people.”
Weller apparently lost control of his car after he rear-ended a Mercedes Benz at the intersection of Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue. Police testified that he hit the accelerator instead of the brake, sending him 995 feet through the outdoor marketplace at speeds of up to 60 mph, avoiding parked cars, but hurling pedestrians into the air before stopping.
He is charged with 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. If convicted, Weller, a retired food broker who lives in Santa Monica, faces 18 years in state prison.
Weller was not in the courtroom during closing arguments. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson has allowed Weller to skip most of the trial because of health concerns.
Jurors are expected to begin deliberating today.
They have three options, Johnson said. Jurors can find Weller not guilty, or choose between the charge of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, a felony, or vehicular manslaughter with negligence, a misdemeanor.
For Weller to be convicted of gross negligence, the evidence must show he acted with complete disregard for the safety or lives of others, and in doing so, failed to act as any reasonable person would in similar circumstances.
Jurors should determine “what could he do on that day, what did he do on that day and what he failed to do as he drove to that market and through that market in taking the lives of 10 victims,” Ambrose said.
Throughout the four-week trial, the prosecution painted a picture of a man who was known to drive recklessly and did so on the day in question, speeding through intersections following a minor traffic accident.
After breaking through a plastic barricade, witnesses for the prosecution said they heard Weller continue to accelerate, swerving from one side of the street to the other in what seemed like deliberate attempts to avoid crashing into farmers’ trucks parked along the curb. Instead, Weller rammed into “soft targets,” a term used by investigators to describe people.
At least two witnesses said Weller acted surly following the accident and refused to hand over his keys to bystanders. They also said Weller looked calm and collected, even muttering, “If they saw me coming, they should have gotten out of my way.”
“He could see, he could steer and he could stop,” Ambrose said.
In a videotaped interview with Santa Monica Police officers shortly after the accident, Weller seemed more concerned about himself than those he killed, Ambrose said, as she tried to leave jurors with a less sympathetic picture of the senior citizen who had just mailed a letter to his grandniece shortly before the crash.
“His attitude is one of complete indifference,” Ambrose said.
Defense attorney Mark Overland spent the majority of the afternoon trying to convince jurors that Ambrose’s argument was “ludicrous,” and lacked evidence to back it up. He contends Weller showed great remorse for his actions.
While Weller declined to testify in his defense, his voice was prominent during Overland’s closing argument, as the attorney quoted his client several times.
“I’m deeply sorry for any pain those people went through. It was my fault,” Overland said, quoting Weller’s comments to police investigators the day of the crash. “God help those poor people. I’m in big trouble with my heart and soul, and that you can’t fix.”
The whole incident happened in a matter of seconds, Overland said, during which time an airbag was deployed, knocking Weller’s hands off of the steering wheel. At no time was Weller able to gain control of his vehicle as he was in complete shock, unable to think or react, Overland said.
“He panicked. It was an unintended acceleration, but nothing that was criminally,” Overland said.
With some witnesses offering statements that were different from those given to police officers on the scene, Overland tried to discredit their recollections of the incident. He also tried to poke holes in Ambrose’s case, calling into question her decision to call only a handful of the more than 300 witnesses at the scene.
“She did not call any witnesses who heard Mr. Weller say after the accident,‘What did I do? I tried to push the brake as hard as I could. Nothing happened,’” Overland said.
“Not one of us are perfect,” Overland added. “Not one of us go through life without making a mistake. That doesn’t mean we’re negligent.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 6, 2006. Read the original PDF.