Oct 5, 2006 6:14 pm US/Pacific
Prosecutor: Farmers Market Crash 'Not An Oops'
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Deputy Los Angeles 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."
In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor said the elderly man whose car roared through a Santa Monica 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 ten.
Deputy Los Angeles 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."
Ambrose continued, declaring, "Those people's lives were not an `oops.' They had a right to walk the streets and assume someone behind a car would take caution and care."
The defendant, 89, has been charged with ten counts of vehicular manslaughter and faces as much as 18 years in prison if convicted.
The prosecution alleges the retired food broker was negligent in the operation of his car and indifferent to the carnage he caused.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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