Battle for blame over safety of patrons
DOWNTOWN, LA — Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the trial of George Russell Weller, the elderly man charged with vehicular manslaughter after he lost control of his Buick LaSabre in July of 2003 and plowed through a crowded Farmers’ Market, killing 10 and injuring 63 others.
Weller, 89, has pleaded not guilty to the felony counts.
Attorneys for Weller successfully argued before a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to allow Weller to leave the courtroom following opening statements and testimony from his first witness. Since the accident, Weller’s health has deteriorated to the point that spending the estimated six weeks in the courtroom would be a hardship, said Mark Overland, who is representing Weller.
The criminal trial has been postponed several times, leading some to believe that District Attorney Steve Cooley was dragging his feet for political reasons, a claim his office vehemently denies.
Meanwhile, a Santa Monica Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Southland Farmers’ Market Association last week, granting a motion for summary judgment in a civil case involving six plaintiffs injured or killed by Weller.
The ruling by Judge Valarie Baker leaves only Step Up On Second, a mental services provider, and the Bayside District Corp., a public-private partnership with City Hall that helps manage downtown, as the lone defendants in the case.
City Hall was removed from the case in July because of a law that grants municipalities design immunity if the construction of an intersection, building, or in this case, the drafting of a traffic management plan are done according to state standards and are approved by a licensed engineer.
With Southland, Baker found that the advocacy group for farmers did not assume any responsibility for ensuring the safety of patrons at the market. That was under the control of City Hall, Baker ruled.
“Evidence presented during oral arguments showed that Southland is essentially a lobbying organization that supports farmers’ markets and deals primarily with farmers and the condition of their products to make sure they are viable for sale,” said Geoffrey Norton, an attorney for Southland. “Despite attempts to show otherwise, there was no evidence that Southland had any role in traffic safety. It was a far-fetched attempt to keep us in and it’s sad that it had to go as long as it did.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that Southland was responsible for providing a safe environment for shoppers and the farmers they represented because Southland engaged in a marketing campaign that attracted hundreds of thousands of people each year to the popular Farmers’ Market, held every Wednesday and Saturday on Arizona Avenue, just off the Third Street Promenade.
Southland is not out of the water yet. Norton must file another motion for summary judgment in dozens of other civil cases filed in relation to the accident, often described as the deadliest in Santa Monica’s history.
On July 16, 2003, Weller apparently lost control of his car after he rear-ended a Mercedes Benz at the intersection of Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue. Police say he hit the accelerator instead of the brake and traveled 995 feet through the Farmers’ Market at speeds of up to 60 mph, hurling pedestrians into the air before stopping, a California Highway Patrol report said.
The 10 people killed ranged in age from 7 months to 78 years old.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 5, 2006. Read the original PDF.