Closing Arguments Loom in Alleged 'Road Rage' Stabbing

Closing arguments will begin next week in the trial of Livermore resident Cort Holbrook who fatally stabbed Ricky Ziesmer of Fremont during a fight in a parking lot in downtown Livermore around 1:30 pm on March 9, 2011.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Owens is seeking to prove that Holbrook acted in a rage when he stabbed Ziesmer twice in the torso. 

Defense attorney Timothy Rien has argued that the defendant, who is being held in Santa Rita Jail on $3 million bail, was acting in self-defense.

As Patch has reported Ziesmer and girlfriend Roschelle Morgan of Newark were driving down First Street in Livermore when they got into a gesturing match with Holbrook, who was also behind the wheel.

Both drivers pulled into a parking lot near the Livermore Cyclery and John's Char Burger where Ziesmer and Holbrook got into a fistfight.

According to probable cause statement, Ziesmer twice punched Holbrook in the face, knocking him to the ground. The statement says Holbrook reached into his car, retrieved a dagger and stabbed Ziesmer in the upper chest.

Ziesmer drove himself to ValleyCare Medical offices in Livermore but had to be transferred to Eden Hospital in Castro Valley, where he died later that day.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that Owens told jurors last week that Holbrook's knife was advertised as "better than firearms." 

The trial will resume Monday at 9 a.m. in Department 518 of the Hayward Hall of Justice before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy.

Patch will file updates.

Read more by clicking on:

an initial report of the stabbing;

an interview with the victim's girlfriend;

an interview with the defendant.