Posted on 10/05/2006 12:56:28 PM PDT by SmithL
Los Angeles -- The elderly man whose car roared through a farmers market in 2003 had multiple opportunities to stop or steer his car away from people and was indifferent after hitting more than 70 people and killing 10, a prosecutor said in closing arguments Thursday.
Deputy District Attorney Ann Ambrose urged jurors not to accept George Russell Weller's claim that he mistook the car's accelerator for the break. As she showed photos of bloodied and mangled bodies, Ambrose derided the claim by saying "oops."
"Those people's lives were not an `oops,'" Ambrose said. "They had a right to walk the streets and assume someone behind a car would take caution and care."
Weller, 89, has been charged with 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter and faces as much as 18 years in prison if convicted.
The prosecution alleged Weller, a retired food broker, was negligent in the operation of his car and indifferent to the carnage he caused. The defense called several experts to testify Weller was in a frozen and panicked state after confusing the two pedals.
Ambrose quoted several witnesses who said Weller appeared in control of his car and deliberately avoided parked cars to avoid injury to himself. Ambrose said Weller aimed for "soft objects."
"He could see, he could steer, he could stop," Ambrose said.
Authorities said Weller's 1992 Buick Le Sabre traveled 300 yards through the open-air market in Santa Monica, reaching speeds of 60 mph as it hit food stalls and people before coming to a halt with one victim on the hood and another tangled underneath. Those killed ranged in age from 7 months to 78 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Somebody needs an editor.
Andrew Glazer mistook the break for the brake.
why, that's because it was broken, see?
Maybe he said "gimme a break"?
He would have been better off with a Toonces defense.
No, he needs a Chewbacca Defense!
Chewbacca Defense? As in "let the Wookie win"?
D'oh! I should have caught the reference.
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