Oct 20, 2006 5:57 pm US/Pacific
Guilty Verdict No Comfort For Weller's Victims
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (CBS) ―
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George Russell Weller in Los Angeles Superior Court, drove the car that plowed through farmers market in Santa Monica, California in 2003.
AP
A guilty verdict offered little comfort for two people who were injured in 2003 by George Russell Weller's car when he drove through the crowded Santa Monica farmer's market.
"When they asked me if I wish Mr. Weller to (be) sitting in a jail, I always said that, no, I don't wish for him to be in a jail," said 63-year-old Ilona Lettrick, who had to have three fingers re-attached after the July 16, 2003 tragedy. "Me only wish is he would (apologize) for that action."
Weller, now 89, was convicted of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and faces up to 18 years in prison.
Weller, who is in poor health, was not in court when the verdicts were read.
Ten people died and more than 60 others were injured when Weller's Buick LeSabre plowed through the open-air market on Arizona Avenue near the Third Street Promenade. Some of the people who were injured and relatives of some of those who died are suing Weller, along with the city of Santa Monica and the operator of the farmers' market over the crash.
After Friday's verdicts were announced, Lettreck and Mark Miller, 43, spoke to reporters at their lawyer's office in Santa Monica.
"There's nothing pleasing about this whole event," said Miller, who had two broken legs and is still in rehabilitation. "I empathize with those that lost family and friends, and maybe they get a tiny bit of closure (from the verdict). I empathize with Mr. Weller. This obviously could have all been avoided if there had been proper barriers."
The civil lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in January. Attorneys in the case are appealing a judge's decision dismissing the city of Santa Monica as a defendant in the case.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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