Santa Monica Farmers Market crash payouts reach $21 million

The city of Santa Monica and other defendants will pay $6 million to settle two lawsuits stemming from a vehicle crash at the Farmers Market that left 10 people dead, bringing the total of payouts to plaintiffs in the case to $21 million.

The resolution of the two remaining lawsuits came during jury selection this week and follows a $15.3-million settlement earlier this year with 40 other plaintiffs. The Santa Monica City Council approved the settlement at its meeting Tuesday night.

A state appeals court last October reinstated allegations that the city had failed to adequately shield marketgoers from motorist George Russell Weller. The driver was 86 when he crashed his car through a wooden barricade on July 16, 2003, and plowed through pedestrians at the popular open-air market.

Under the latest settlement, Santa Monica’s insurers, market operator Bayside District Corp. and Weller will pay $1 million to the family of Movsha Hoffman, who was killed when struck by Weller’s car, and $5 million to a family who lost a 62-year-old grandmother and a 7-month-old child. “No. 1 issue has always been public safety. The human error fact is foreseeable to traffic engineers and the city did not do a good job here,” said Geoff Wells, who represented the Hoffmans and several plaintiffs. “There is a sense of relief for the family after five years.”

Deputy City Atty. Jeanette Schactner said that the settlement was a good resolution for all involved..

“The city believes that it has no liability,” she said. “But, in a case this big, trial results are difficult to predict. The settlement eliminates the risks and difficulties of trial and allows the victims, their families and the city to put this tragedy behind them and move forward.”

Weller was convicted last year of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for one of the worst pedestrian tragedies in U.S. history. The jury decided he acted criminally after seeing images of gruesome carnage, including a dead body draped over the hood of Weller’s car and another victim beneath the wheels. Weller, now 91, received a sentence of five years’ probation. He is now confined to his home and receives 24-hour nursing care.

The case focused nationwide attention on the issue of aged drivers and on systems that fail to adequately screen elderly motorists for safety. But it also raised questions about municipal efforts to protect pedestrians at the increasing number of farmers markets nationwide on city streets.

At the time of the crash, wooden sawhorses were used to block off Arizona Avenue for the outdoor pedestrian market. A year after the deaths, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the city was partly to blame for the accident because the movable barriers were ineffective and a nearly 20-year-old traffic plan for the area did not comply with national, state or city guidelines. After the tragedy, city vehicles replaced the sawhorses.

A judge ruled earlier that the city was immune from lawsuits because it had drawn up a market map, indicating officials had considered safety. The state Court of Appeal found that the map did not show the barricades, casting doubt on the city’s safety plan.

The judge who sentenced Weller said the motorist “showed enormous indifference” and “unbelievable callousness,” but because of age and poor health he received probation. Weller’s attorney had argued that his client lost control of his 1992 Buick after he mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal

Weller was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of Lynne Weaver, 47, of Woodland Hills; Theresa Breglia, 50, of Bronx, N.Y.; Brendon Davidesfahani, 7 months, of Los Angeles; Molok Ghoulian, 62, of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzalez, 35, of Venice; Movsha Hoffman, 78, 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

richard.winton@latimes.com