LA Car Rampage Suspect: It Was an Accident

A lawyer for a Colorado man charged today with murder and assault for allegedly driving his car through a weekend throng on the Venice Beach boardwalk said it was an accident that has left his client devastated. "I don't believe he intentionally tried to hit anybody," said public defender Philip Dube, who is representing Nathan Louis Campbell, 38. "He's profoundly sad, he is profoundly depressed, that he has potentially ended somebody's life," Dube said outside the courthouse, after Campbell entered a not guilty plea. "I think this was a horrible accident."

A felony complaint outlined 34 counts against Campbell, saying he acted willfully. However, it provided no explanation for why he allegedly maneuvered around a vehicle barrier early Saturday evening and plowed into tourists and vendors on the popular walkway along the Pacific. Italian newlywed Alice Gruppioni, 32, who was on her honeymoon, was killed, and 16 other people were injured. Campbell was charged with one count of murder, 16 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and 17 counts of hit-and-run. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Bail was set at $1.48 million. Click for more. (More Nathan Campbell stories.)