11-20-2006, 03:23 PM
|
#23 (permalink)
|
|
Junkie
|
Sentenced to probation:
Quote:
George Russell Weller Sentenced To Probation
AP
LOS ANGELES, November 20, 2006 - The man who killed 10 people and injured more than 70 others when he drove through the Santa Monica Farmers Market was sentenced Monday to probation by a judge who said he believed the crime deserved imprisonment but the defendant was too ill.
George Russell Weller, 89, was convicted Oct. 20 of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in a case that ignited debate over the licensing of elderly drivers. Weller, confined to a sickbed, was not present.
Weller was 86 when he plowed his 1992 Buick Le Sabre into the crowded farmers market on July 16, 2003, moments after colliding with another car.
Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson said he agreed completely with the jury and called Weller's actions callous and showing "an enormous indifference to human life."
Weller could have received up to 18 years in prison, but the judge said Weller's health problems including severe heart disease would make him a burden on prison authorities and taxpayers, and that imprisonment would most likely kill Weller.
Defense attorneys argued at trial that Weller was a victim of "pedal error," in which he panicked and mistook the car's accelerator for the brake. Prosecutors said he was careless to the point of criminal negligence.
The judge dissected the accident events beginning with the initial car-to-car collision and noted that Weller had enough control of his own vehicle to steer away from cars and trucks within the farmers market.
"Mr. Weller chose to steer into the people, plowing into the crowd and literally launching bodies into the air as his car sped 2½ blocks," the judge said.
The judge also called Weller's apologies hollow.
|
Bullshit. I guess this means if you are a geriatric you are above the law. |
|
|