Livezey murder trial begins

Prosecutors opened their case Tuesday against a Valley Springs man charged with second-degree murder in Calaveras County Superior Court.

In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Seth Matthews told a jury that the victim, Marvin Brown, 52, was being visited by friends Reanna Silveira and Angela Sullivan on June 29 when the defendant, James Alison Livezey, 41, arrived.

Livezey and Sullivan have a 4-year-old son, Matthews said, and Livezey had his other son, Beau, 19, drive him to Brown’s home at the Sequoia Rose Mobile Home Park in Valley Springs.

Matthews said, Livezey hit Sullivan and “took (Brown) to the ground.”

"He never got up again,” the prosecutor said, and Brown died July 4 at Mark Twain St. Joseph’s Hospital from a broken neck.    

Matthews also explained that Livezey evaded arrest on murder charges after Brown’s death before deputies found him July 12, camping near New Hogan Reservoir. Livezey then told deputies he had sought Sullivan that night to watch their son while he went for treatment of a brain tumor and did not think he hurt Brown, Matthews said.    

Deputy Shawn Cechini of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department, the first witness called to the stand, testified as the first to respond to the scene after a 911 call. A neighbor, Kevin Patton, took Brown to the hospital with Sullivan.    

Cechini said Silveira was reluctant to cooperate for fear of being labeled a “snitch” and suffering retribution, which she later affirmed in her own testimony.    

During cross-examination, San Andreas defense attorney Ken Foley asked Cechini about a statement Sullivan made to police. Cechini confirmed she had said she pushed Brown during a dispute about a cellular phone plan the pair shared and he then had a seizure.    

Matthews objected to the admission of that testimony, which Visiting Judge Edward Lacy initially disallowed before reversing that decision after a conference with jurors dismissed from the courtroom. Foley successfully argued the testimony qualified as a declaration by Sullivan against her own interest. Lacy allowed it on grounds that sufficient effort had been made, though unsuccessful, to subpoena Sullivan to testify on her own behalf in the case.    

All indications point to Sullivan having left the state with her son, Foley said.    

“I’ve spent more time on this case trying to find people than any other case in my career,” said Foley, who has practiced law since 1974.    

Patton next took the stand to recount how Silveira’s cries for help prompted him to go to Brown’s residence, where he saw Livezey standing over the victim.       

“He was over him. I couldn’t see if he was hitting him or choking him or what ... but his arms were moving,” Patton recalled. “It was like he was choking the guy. That was the kind of position he was in. I yelled to him, I said, ‘Hey! Hey! Stop!’ ”   

Patton said a clearly agitated Livezey briefly “squared off” with him and said, “(Expletive) should have come home,” referring to Sullivan, when he asked what happened.    

Foley asked Patton if he realized he may have exacerbated Brown’s injuries when moving him from the trailer to the pavement outside and performing CPR.    

“I wasn’t worried about his neck. I was worried about him breathing,” Patton said. “All I did was try to save a man’s life.”  

In contrast, Patton said Sullivan rifled through Brown’s pockets on the drive to the hospital.    

“She had no feeling basically ... she didn’t care whether or not he lived or died,” Patton said.    

On the day Brown died, Patton said Sullivan showed up at his trailer. This time, the jury left the room as Lacy considered Foley’s objection to the testimony, which the judge again allowed.    

“She asked if she could come inside the house so we could get our stories straight,” Patton said. “She showed me her breasts and made a sexual advance.”    

Patton said he shut the door on Sullivan.    

Silveira was the final witness to testify on Tuesday. She said she and Sullivan had smoked some methamphetamine at Brown’s trailer and then set about cleaning his house the evening of June 29. Silveira said Livezey arrived and pulled Sullivan’s hair to command her attention, then cursed at her when she tried to intervene.    

She said she saw Brown fall to the ground, but not how it occurred.   

“It just happened so fast,” she said.    

Foley asked for a recess, but agreed to let Matthews finish his final five to 10 minutes of questioning of Silveira before concluding the day’s proceedings. Upon the granting of the recess, a bailiff helped a shaky Livezey to his feet and the defendant, weeping, said, “I hurt,” as he entered the courthouse hallway.    

“My client’s in a tremendous amount of pain right now. I asked him if he could follow what the witness was saying ... and he was having a difficult time,” Foley said, adding he called for the recess several minutes earlier due to Livezey’s condition.       

The court agreed to provide a transcript of testimony from the point of Foley’s request until Tuesday’s conclusion so he could go over it with his client.    

The trial is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. Friday at Superior Court in San Andreas, beginning with Foley’s cross-examination of Silveira.