Livermore Man Convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter in Road-Rage Killing

Just over two years after Ricky Ziesmer of Fremont was stabbed to death in a downtown Livermore parking lot, a jury on Thursday found the suspect in the case guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

Livermore-resident Cort Holbrook, who claimed he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Ziesmer on March 9, 2011, was convicted in a Hayward courtroom, the Contra Costa Times reports.

As Patch previously 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 driving down the same road.

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.

Since the incident, Holbrook has been held in Santa Rita Jail on $3 million bail

Patch editor Tom Abate contributed to this story.

Patch will update this story when more information is available.