Driver May Face Death Penalty in Assault With Car

Describing the case as “the poster crime for torture,” a Superior Court judge granted prosecutors permission Thursday to seek the death penalty in the murder trial of an enraged motorist.

Robert W. Cleaves, a 70-year-old retired character actor from Venice, stands accused of murdering a rival motorist Sept. 30 by pinning the man beneath his battered car and dragging the victim more than 100 yards along a street in downtown Santa Monica. Cleaves, who has pleaded innocent to charges of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and felony hit-and-run, says he rammed the man in self-defense.

At a pretrial hearing, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Kamins said evidence showed that the crime was especially “heinous, atrocious and cruel,” warranting the added charge of special circumstances that can lead to the death penalty.

“There’s no contest between human flesh and a Maverick automobile,” Kamins said after testimony from a handful of eyewitnesses.

Police say that Cleaves killed Arnold W. Guerriero, 38, of Culver City after a heated traffic quarrel in downtown Santa Monica. At Thursday’s hearing, witnesses said their curiosity turned to horror as they first watched the two drivers chasing each other in their cars, and then saw Cleaves run over Guerriero after the Culver City resident had stopped his car and stepped from the vehicle.