Graphic Re-Creation Puts Jurors Behind the Wheel in Market Crash
Jurors virtually sat behind George Russell Weller’s steering wheel Tuesday, seeing a specially prepared graphic re-creation of his deadly 20-second drive through an open-air market three years ago.
With the view that the 86-year-old Weller had through the windshield of his 1992 Buick, jurors could see and feel jarring impacts as he crashed at freeway speeds through the crowded market, striking dozens of stalls and injuring more than 70 people, 10 of them fatally.
The presentation by the defense, similar to an early-generation video game, was intended to show how quickly the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market tragedy unfolded on July 16, 2003.
The largest jolt was when the air bag deployed, instantly obscuring the driver’s vision. No people were portrayed in the animation, and there was no soundtrack. It was 20 seconds long.
The video came toward the close of the defense case in a trial that moved much more quickly than predicted. The jury could begin deliberating by the weekend, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson said.
Witness Thomas Shelton, who oversaw preparation of the video and who retired after 31 years with the California Highway Patrol, told jurors that Weller’s driving was consistent with “a panic state.”
“The driver simply isn’t capable of correcting the error. He thinks he’s stepping on the brake when he’s stepping on the gas,” Shelton said.
Shelton also discounted prosecution suggestions that the incident was sparked by Weller’s efforts to speed away from a minor collision near the entrance to the market.
“I don’t believe this is a hit-and-run,” said Shelton, who has investigated 8,000 vehicle accidents. “He’s licensed, he’s insured and it was a minor collision.... He wasn’t under the influence of alcohol. He wasn’t under the influence of drugs. There was an absence of reasons for Mr. Weller to leave the accident scene.”
Shelton said he calculated distances and times used in the animation by using data on the specifications for a Buick, witness accounts and evidence found in the aftermath along Arizona Avenue.
The animation was based on the theory that the car traveled with “a constant gain in speed up to the time the bag inflated and the horn went off, and then a fairly consistent deceleration.”
The prosecutor counterattacked sharply.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Ambrose challenged Shelton on his conclusions and emphasized that he had concluded, as had many prosecution witnesses, that Weller had been steering at some points. And Shelton acknowledged, as have other defense witnesses, that Weller could have stopped at any time by applying the brakes.
The animation began as Weller drove into the market, omitting the beginning of the incident, when Weller was involved in a minor crash less than a block away. The prosecution contends he was running from the accident; the defense maintains Weller tried to brake but experienced pedal error and pressed hard on the accelerator when he was aiming for the brake.
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