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No prison for Weller, no closure for others

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Times Staff Writers

For 25 minutes Monday, a judge attacked George Russell Weller’s “enormous indifference” and “unbelievable callousness” in running down and killing 10 pedestrians in a Santa Monica open-air market. The 89-year-old deserved prison for his crime, the judge said.

But in the end, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson placed Weller on probation, finding that his age and poor health undercut any value to imprisonment.

“Mr. Weller deserves to go to prison, but because of and only because of his rapidly declining health, I will place him on probation,” Johnson said in a withering critique of Weller’s behavior during and after the 2003 crash.

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Johnson’s ruling closed an emotionally charged legal drama that focused attention on the issue of driving by senior citizens.

Weller was not present for the hearing and one victim called him a coward for not facing those he had harmed.

Survivors of Weller’s victims wept in court. Injured victims and family members of those killed also gathered in Santa Monica, where some expressed dissatisfaction with the sentencing and the trial.

“It’s not closure for me,” said Lily Hoffman, whose 78-year-old father, Movsha, died in the crash. Her mother, Esther, now 77, who was at his side, was seriously injured. “I’m not satisfied at all.” Weller “was grossly negligent. This trial accomplished nothing.”

The toll from Weller’s 20-second drive through the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market on July 16, 2003 -- 78 people killed or injured -- included the highest number of pedestrian fatalities from a traffic accident in California history.

The defense said the tragedy was a terrible accident, caused when Weller lost control of his 1992 Buick after he mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal. But Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley consistently held that it was a crime that should be punished.

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Johnson said Weller “has never once expressed in court any remorse for his actions. I will never understand his stubborn and bullheaded refusal to accept responsibility to put this matter to rest for everyone, including himself.”

Defense attorney Mark Borenstein said that Weller has apologized repeatedly, most recently on Sunday, is sincerely remorseful and thinks every day about the tragedy.

The defense did not try to argue senility or other mental deterioration as a factor. In his remarks, Johnson said older drivers had the same responsibility to control their vehicles as other motorists.

Johnson concluded that many of Weller’s actions as he plowed through the farmers market were intentional, not accidental.

“In fact, he steered it amazingly well. There were places along the farmers market where Mr. Weller literally threaded the needle,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Weller’s medical team reported that he cannot walk, has lost feeling in his hands and feet and lacks the ability to fully understand. Prison “would most likely kill Mr. Weller,” Johnson said. “None of that is right, and it makes no sense.”

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Weller’s lawyer said his client, who will turn 90 in two weeks, is “in a dreadful, depressing place, far more than any state confinement could ever achieve.”

In court, Jennifer Weaver, the teenage daughter of victim Lynne Weaver, described the loss of “the most amazing person I ever knew.”

“She’s the only mom I’ll ever have. I’ll never see my mom again. Why should he get to see his family?”

Robert Ashley, whose grandmother suffered catastrophic injuries in the crash, said in an interview that putting Weller in jail made no sense. Shamsi Khani died at the age of 92 in September, just as Weller’s trial began.

“It’s at the end of his life,” Ashley said. “I think the Weller family members have to deal with their own actions or inactions in not taking away the keys from this man. He was already in previous accidents, and they should have admonished him not to drive anymore.”

John Wayne Haug, Weaver’s brother, was in court and believed that Johnson did the right thing. “The judge summed up the way I felt,” Haug said. “It would have been different had he been 25 or 30.”

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Juror Thomas Wall, who also attended the hearing, said the sentence, which includes $57,500 in restitution and $44,200 in fines, penalties and fees, is “fair and just” given the “extenuating circumstances” of Weller’s health. Asked whether his fellow jurors would agree, he said, “I believe they would.”

Defense attorney Mark Overland said he would continue to appeal the verdict, which he called “tainted.” He said Weller’s condition had deteriorated so that he “does not have a full understanding” of the sentence.

The case of Weller sparked debate on how well the state tests senior citizens for deteriorating driving skills and led to several legislative proposals to tighten screening. In separate lawsuits, dozens of victims alleged that the city of Santa Monica failed to adequately protect market patrons along Arizona Avenue, a busy street closed that afternoon to motor traffic and blocked by a barricade that Weller flattened. He had been involved in a minor accident about half a block away, and two witnesses said they believed he was fleeing the scene.

Last summer, a judge exonerated the city of any blame, ruling that it was not negligent. Today, police vehicles block all entrances to the market.

Hoffman said the city of Santa Monica should bear some legal responsibility.

Weller made “a huge mistake,” she said, “but if the place was adequately protected, more likely it would not have happened or the extent of injuries would have been minute.”

Johnson presided over the six-week trial without showing any hint of whether he was sympathetic to Weller or the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Ambrose. After the verdict, Ambrose did not recommend prison time for Weller, although state probation officials who reviewed the case for Johnson did.

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In convicting Weller, several jurors said they were swayed by witnesses who said that immediately after his car came to a stop, he failed to comprehend what he had done. At the time, Weller had just driven about 700 feet down the length of the popular market, striking dozens of people.

A corpse was draped across his windshield and another body -- which acted as a brake on the car -- was trapped under the wheels. Weller was standing 20 feet away as desperate rescuers tried to save the woman.

“In plain sight of all this, Mr. Weller said, ‘Just think how I felt,’ and ‘Why didn’t you get out of my way?’ These are unbelievably callous statements,” Johnson said.

The defense disputed that Weller made those statements.

Weller was convicted of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the deaths of Weaver, 47, of Woodland Hills; Theresa Breglia, 50, of the Bronx, N.Y.; Brendon Esfahani, 7 months, of Los Angeles; Molok Ghoulian, 62, of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzalez, 35, of Venice; Hoffman, of Santa Monica; Leroy Lattier, 55, a transient; Diana McCarthy, 41, and her husband, Kevin, 50, of New York; and Cindy Valladares, 3, of Los Angeles.

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john.spano@latimes.com

martha.groves@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Excerpts of judge’s remarks on case

Selections from a statement prepared by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson for the sentencing of George Russell Weller in the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market tragedy:

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“At trial, there was a great deal of attention to whether Mr. Weller could have put on the brakes of his car or whether his feet were frozen because of pedal error and hyper-vigilance. Like the jury, I have a lot of trouble accepting those concepts.”

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“The fact Mr. Weller’s advanced age and weak condition contributed to his reckless driving is not a mitigating circumstance. That is because all drivers have the same responsibility to control their vehicles and avoid injury to others, regardless of age or physical condition.”

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“There were places along the farmers market where Mr. Weller literally threaded the needle through very narrow gaps between structures and vehicles, and in wider areas he steered his car from one side of the street to the other.... Given the choice between stopping his car by steering into an empty truck or continuing to move down the street by steering into people, Mr. Weller chose to steer into the people.”

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“Among his first words after leaving his car, Mr. Weller told the police, ‘Just think how I felt.’ A few minutes later he challenged some bystanders by asking, ‘Why didn’t you get out of my way?’ ... These are unbelievably callous statements.”

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“Yet he has never once expressed in court any remorse for his actions. I have received letters and statements on his behalf from others, but not one word from Mr. Weller himself.... I will never understand Mr. Weller’s indifference to the victims in this case, and I will never understand his stubborn and bullheaded refusal to accept responsibility and help put this matter to rest for everyone -- including himself.”

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