Judge Denies Request to Arrest Witness in Road Rage Killing

A request that the primary witness for a be arrested on an outstanding warrant was denied Friday.

The request came shortly after spoke at a preliminary hearing for a Livermore man charged in the slaying of her boyfriend, of Fremont.

Ziesmer, 48, and got into a road rage fight on March 9. Morgan was in the passenger seat of her car driven by Ziesmer when the road rage incident began on First Street in Springtown. The fight eventually ended with Holbrook, 42, stabbing Ziesmer with a dagger at a downtown Livermore parking lot.

. His lawyer, Eric Schweitzer, has said the killing was done in self-defense.

Schweitzer on Friday requested the courtroom bailiff take Morgan, a resident of Newark, in custody for an outstanding warrant related to failing to appear in court in July. Morgan was to appear in court this past summer for a driving under the influence charge and violation of probation, Schweitzer said.

Judge Jacob Blea III denied Schweitzer's request, citing the warrant is based on a non-violent crime.

The request was made after Morgan's testimony, which also revealed that a friend who recently was in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with Holbrook told her that if she appeared in court that she would be arrested on a warrant.

"When (the friend) was released he told her that Cort was saying she would be arrested when she comes to court," said Connie Campbell, Alameda County deputy district attorney.

, which forced officials to delay the case to Friday.

Morgan was the only witness called at Friday's hearing and was questioned by Schweitzer and Campbell. Her emotional recap of the was similar to what she revealed in a .

Holbrook is being held at Santa Rita Jail in lieu of $3 million bail.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. Monday at Department 703 of the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton.