Defense Blames Crash on Illness

Contradicting police accounts of the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market tragedy, attorneys for George Russell Weller said Tuesday that an undiagnosed heart condition caused him to lose control of his car just before the crash that killed 10 people.

The condition stopped his heart from beating for a few seconds and could have caused “anything from dizziness to a loss of function,” attorney Jim Bianco said outside Los Angeles County Superior Court, where Weller was arraigned, near Los Angeles International Airport. “We think that this is one of the things that led to the accident on July 16.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Rundle countered that Weller, 87, was alert and in control of his vehicle throughout the crash and that he could have stopped his Buick LeSabre at any point as it sped nearly 1,000 feet through the busy marketplace.

The statements offer the first explanation from the defense team as to why Weller sped down Arizona Avenue that afternoon. They also reveal what probably will be a critical point of dispute in the criminal case: Weller’s medical condition.

Attorneys for both sides spoke to reporters after Weller’s appearance at the courthouse . Weller, who walked slowly into the courtroom leaning on a cane, pleaded not guilty to 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Judge Paula Adele Mabrey allowed him to remain free without bail after determining that he was not a flight risk or a danger to the community. Prosecutors had asked for $50,000 bail, saying that he would be a threat to public safety if he drove.

Mabrey ordered Weller not to drive. His driver’s license was revoked shortly after the crash.

The district attorney’s office filed charges Monday after an investigation by Santa Monica police and the California Highway Patrol. Prosecutors concluded that Weller acted recklessly as he drove around a road closure sign and plowed through the marketplace, injuring 63 people. A judge could place him on probation or send him to state prison for up to 18 years if he is convicted.

Weller’s attorneys said their investigation concluded that the crash was an accident and did not warrant criminal charges.

As part of that investigation, they said, Weller underwent medical tests that resulted in the diagnosis of a heart condition that can briefly stop blood from flowing to the brain. Doctors then implanted a pacemaker. They removed it because of an infection that sent him to the hospital.

Bianco and co-counsel Mark Overland said they believe that the heart condition in part caused the crash, which they say occurred when Weller mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes.

“There were absolutely no warning signs that Mr. Weller would lose control of his car before he drove that day,” Bianco said. “After 73 years of impeccable driving, the accident was completely unforeseeable.”

Two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators working for the defense interviewed more than 100 witnesses, including one who said that Weller appeared frozen and unable to control his car just before he entered the market, his attorneys said.

Rundle said prosecutors reviewed Weller’s medical records from before and after the crash. They also watched a videotape of Weller immediately after the crash and reviewed nearly 400 witness statements.

“Mr. Weller was completely alert, aware, conscious and in control of that vehicle,” Rundle said Tuesday.

Witnesses told CHP investigators that Weller stared straight ahead, had his hands at the 10 and 2 position on the wheel, and was able to avoid parked cars on either side of the street.

His car stopped due to a body trapped beneath, police said.

Regardless of Weller’s age, Rundle said, he was responsible for his conduct and made no effort to stop the car.

“Because of his criminally negligent behavior, 10 people lost their lives,” Rundle said. “And he should be held responsible.”

Weller’s attorneys acknowledge that Weller is responsible but said that the case should have been handled in civil court. They also apologized on behalf of Weller, a retired salesman and longtime Santa Monica resident.

“Those who know Mr. Weller and the exemplary life that he has led for 87 years know that he pays every second of every day for the devastation resulting from those horrific nine seconds,” Bianco said.

Those who died were Molok Ghoulian, 62, and her grandson Brendon Esfahani, 7 months, both of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzales, 35, of Venice; Movsha Hoffman, 73, of Santa Monica; Leroy Lattier, 55, of Louisiana; Diana McCarthy, 41, and her husband, Kevin McCarthy, 50, both of Venice; Lynne Ann Weaver, 47, of Woodland Hills; Cindy Palacios Valladares, 3, of Los Angeles; and Theresa Breglia, 50, of New York.

Attorneys are scheduled to return to the airport courthouse Feb. 9 to set a date for the preliminary hearing.