6-14-2001 - Trial Begins in Petaluma Road Rage Case

The Press Democrat - by Clark Mason

Both drivers on defense as each claims other was aggressor; two juries selected.

Robert Williams and Andrea Cuccaro didn't know each other, but they will sit side by side in court as defendants in a fatal road rage case.

Nearly two years after an alleged duel on Highway 101, a trial began Wednesday to determine who is to blame for the August 1, 1999 crash that killed Cuccaro's passenger and injured two other people.

Eyewitnesses have differing accounts and some have even reversed their stories as to which driver was the primary aggressor befor the deadly crash at the Washington Street overpass in Petaluma.

Three different accident reconstruction experts are scheduled to testify, each with an interpretation of what caused Cuccaro to veer off the highway and hit a tree, killing Lena Marie Guillett, 20, of Petaluma.

"She was a stunning, beautiful girl, full of joy. Everything was just cut off." said Guillett's great aunt, Melba Newman.

In opening statements Wednesday, there was consensus among attorneys that Cuccaro, 24, of Santa Rosa, was racing with some friends in a Volvo and that Williams, 48, got caught up in the high speed game of cat and mouse.

Cuccaro, with two friends and her four year old daughter in the car, was on her way back from the boat races in Benicia.

Williams and his wife, Ann, were returning to their home in Windsor after buying a house in Sonora.

According to prosecutors, Cuccaro and the Volvo were passing each other back and forth at speeds of more than 100 mph on the way to Benicia. On the way back, the Volvo got up to 120 mph on Highway 101 just before the crash.

Cuccaro was trying to keep up on Highway 37 when she encountered Williams.

Prosecutor Jim Shine said Ann Williams will testify that Cuccaro got behind them at one point on Lakeville Highway and kept trying to pass, but oncoming traffic prevented it.

Once on Highway 101, the prosecutor said Cuccaro made an obscene gesture toward Williams.

Eyewitnesses had differing versions over which vehicle cut off the other first. But shine said witnesses saw both drivers taking turns cutting in front of each other, forcing the other to apply their brakes. "he said he felt pure anger when she cut him off a second time," Shine said. According to the prosecutor, Williams retaliated by cutting in front of Cuccaro and braking. She was unable to avoid hitting his vehicle and crashing.

Defense attorney Andy Martinez, who represents Cuccaro, agrees that she crashed after Williams braked in front of her. He says prior to the accident, his client may have tapped her brakes to get Williams off her tail, but insists she was not a substantial factor in the accident.

Charlie Cochran, who represents Williams, disagreed with that scenario. He said his expert will testify that just before the fatal accident Cuccaro came along side Williams and turned into him, causing the accident. "I don't think she intentionally rammed him," Cochran said, "I think she misjudged the clearing."

He siad the California Highway Patrol has the sequence of events wrong as to what caused the crash. And he said that contrary to the way authorities first characterized the incident, it was not a case of road rage that lasted 30 miles. "Nothing started 'til the final 30 seconds before the crash," he said.

The crash killed guillett and landed Cuccaro in the hospital with a head injury from which she continues to recuperate. Her daughter also was injured and so was her other passenger, Heather Fahy of Sebastopol, who was in a coma for weeks and in rehabilitation for more than a year.

Both drivers are charged with vehicular manslaughter and grossly negligent driving. There are separate juries hearing the case to keep the statements of each defendant from implicating the other. but both juries are expected to hear most of the same testimony. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

6-15-2001 - Petaluma Road Rage Witness Testifies

The Press Democrat - by Clark Mason

One driver's wife says she commented, "What an idiot," when other motorist passed.

As testimony began in a road rage trial, a passenger described a series of increasingly angry encounters ending in a crash that left one woman dead and three people injured.

Both drivers are on trial with separate juries to sort out charges of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving.

Anne Williams, the wife of defendant Robert Williams, was the first significant eyewitness to testify. On the stand Thursday, she denied initial CHP reports that her husband and co-defendant Andrea Cuccaro of Santa Rosa conducted a increasingly dangerous duel for 30 miles before the deadly crash on Highway 101 in Petaluma.

She laid blame for the accident on Cuccaro, whose defense is expected to blame Williams as the trial continues in Sonoma County Superio Court.

Williams said she and her husband were returning to their home in Windsor when they first noticed Cuccaro on Highway 37 near Vallejo. Williams heard a honk and cuccaro passed as the road narrowed from two laned to one. "I said, "What an idiot," Williams testified.

She said they passed her near Sears Point when traffic backed up in one lane, but there were no dirty looks or gestures. On Lakeville Highway, her husband made a comment that Cuccaro was behind them trying to pass but couldn't because of oncoming traffic. Williams said there wasn't any further indication of trouble until she and her husband were on Highway 101.

"We had just passed a truck. We were in the fast lane. All of a sudden, a white bumper appeared at my door." she said. "It was less than a foot away from our vehicle." Williams said Cuccaro "screamed at me. I swear I heard it I had my window partly down. Her face was within a foot of mine." She said cuccaro yelled an obscenity, then "turned the vehicle in front of us and slammed on the brakes."

She said her husband avoided a collision by hitting the brakes and swerving. They got back into the fast lane ahead of Cuccaro, Williams said. As cuccaro approached, she said her husband tapped his brakes once. Williams said Cuccaro passed and cut in front of them. Her husband swerved into the other land and then moved back in front of Cuccaro in the fast land a second time. Williams said Cuccaro passed again and then turned into their car.

"She just turned and hit your car?" prosecutor Jim Shine asked.

"Yes, she did," Williams responded.

The Williamses' car hit the center guard rail, while Cuccaro's careened off the right side and hit a redwood tree. the impact killed Lena Marie guillett, a passenger in Cuccaro's car. Cuccaro, her daughter and another passenger were injured.

Under cross-examination by Andy Martinez, Cuccaro's attorney, Williams denied her husband was driving recklessly before the accident, which a previous eyewitness had stated. She acknowledged she has a monetary interest in the outcome because of lawsuits filed after the crash. Asked why she didn't just tell her husband to pull off the road, Williams said it all happened too quickly.

Heather Fahy, a passenger in Cuccaro's car, also testified Thursday. Fahy, who was in a coma for 12 days after the accident, said she remembered nothing about the crash. Fahy said she rode with Cuccaro to boat races in Benicia. Her boyfriend was riding in another car on the way home from Benicia, she said.

Prosecutors said cuccaro and the driver of the second car raced to Benicia and back. The second car went as fast as 110 mph, according to one passenger.

6-16-2001 - Windsor Man Denies Anger only Motivation in Fatal Hwy. 101 Crash

The Press Democrat - by Clark Mason

"This woman was trying to kill me."

A Windsor man conceded anger may have gotten the best of him during a Highway 101 confrontation with another driver that ended in a fatal crash. But Robert W. Williams also told investigators it wasn't simply a case of road rage. He said he was trying to defend himself when the cars collided.

"This woman was trying to kill me," Williams told a California Highway Patrol officer in an interview four days after the crash, which left one woman dead and three other people injured.

The tape recorded interview was played Friday in Sonoma County Superior court where Williams and Andrea Cuccaro of Santa Rosa are co-defendants in a trial with separate juries. They are accused of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving for repeatedly passing one another before colliding on Highway 101 in Petaluma.

In the CHP interview, Williams recounted the moments before the August 1, 1999, crash saying the problems began when Cuccaro pulled in front of him on the freeway and slammed on her brakes.

Witnesses said they passed one another at least two more times before their cars collided, sending Williams into the center guardrail and Cuccaro into a redwood tree on the edge of the road.

When she passed the first time, CHP Officer Robert Mota asked, "You were probably angry, or very angry?" "I probably was," Williams replied. "And you probably let your anger get the best of you?" Mota asked. "It's possible, yes," Williams said.

His statement was played one day after the jury heard from his wife, Anne Williams, a passenger who said the collision occurred when Cuccaro changed lanes into the side of their car.

During the course of the trial, jurors are expected to hear from three accident reconstruction experts with varying interpretations of what caused the crash.

A CHP investigator and an expert hired by Cuccaro are expected to offer similar scenarios in which Williams braked his car in front of Cuccaro, causing an impact that sent her off the road. Williams, however, has an expert who supports his version. He says Cuccaro came alongside his car and suddenly turned into him.

Williams a retired ironworker, said he was westbound on Highway 37 near Mare Island when Cuccaro shot past him "like I was standing still."

Prosecutor Jim Shine said Cuccaro had been racing with her boyfriend and some other men in a third car. He said she was trying to keep up with them when she encountered Williams.

On the tape, Williams said it upset him because "she came by me, pretty much on the shoulder." Williams said he passed Cuccaro near Sears Point and she was behind him on Lakeville Highway, sometimes tailgating. But he denied that angered him. It was only when he entered Highway 101, from Lakeville Highway and got into the fast lane, he said, that things got crazy.

"The next thing I know, she came flying by in front of me with no room to go," he said. Williams said Cuccaro twice cut in front of him in the fast lane and hit her brakes, forcing him to swerve into the other Lane to avoid a collision. Williams said he couldn't explain why he kept trying to get ahead of Cuccaro rather than falling behind or getting off the freeway. And he said he couldn't remember if he tapped his brakes to get her to back away.

"I just wanted to get away," he said. In retrospect, Williams said he was sorry he hadn't pulled off the road. Mota asked whether he was too upset to "let it go." "I think I did get caught up in something." Williams replied. "I don't know that I wanted to teach her a lesson. I wanted to get away from her."

When the trial resumes Monday in Judge Raima Ballinger's court, motorists who witnessed the crash or the events leading up to it are scheduled to testify.