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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Three years ago, an elderly man slammed his car into a crowded Santa Monica farmers market at high speed, killing 10 people and leaving more than 60 injured.
Whether George Russell Weller's deadly drive should be treated as a crime or as an unfortunate tragedy is a question that will be debated in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Jury selection begins in the case Tuesday.
County prosecutors say Weller, 89, is worthy of criminal punishment and have charged him with 10 counts of manslaughter. If convicted on all counts, he could face 18 years in prison.
"Mr. Weller needs to take responsibility for his actions, and the victims and their families need to come to court and be heard," said Deputy District Attorney Ann Ambrose.
Ambrose said two witnesses will testify that after Weller's car stopped, he said: "If you saw me coming, you should have gotten out of my way."
The defense contends that Weller had one horrendous senior moment in which he tried to brake but hit the accelerator by mistake and simply could not stop.
Weller has refused to testify in civil lawsuits filed by the injured and survivors of the deceased, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.
During police interrogations after the incident on July 16, 2003, Weller told police he didn't know how his car kept accelerating or how it eventually came to a stop after covering nearly 1,000 feet, according to police transcripts obtained by the Los Angeles Times last week
"God almighty, those poor people. Poor, poor, tragic people. And what a tragic ending to their outing, and I contributed to it, which is just almost more than I can figure out," Weller said.
To make the case, prosecutors are seeking to use Weller's driving record. He was involved in several minor accidents during the decade before the farmers market crash.
And minutes before he drove through the market, he had been involved in a fender bender. The earlier incident involved "cosmetic damage" to a Mercedes-Benz that Weller struck from behind at a slow speed, police said.
| Driver, 89, goes on trial for deadly farmer's market crash | Log-in or register a new user account | 0 Comments |
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