Trial starts for man accused of stabbing Sonoma County pot grower

Prosecutors opened their case Monday against a Michigan man accused of fatally stabbing his boss at a Knights Valley marijuana farm in 2016, alleging during the first day of his murder trial that he killed the Geyserville man after learning he no longer had a job.

Arent Bradt, 36, faces one count of premeditated murder with an enhancement of using a knife to carry out the attack on Cesar Gonzalez-Rivas, 40. The pot grower had hired Bradt to work as a security guard at his home earlier that year, Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Jane Murray told the jury.

That relationship ended on Thanksgiving Day in 2016 when Gonzalez-Rivas decided Bradt and he could no longer work together, Murry said. He broke the news to Bradt while both were working at the Knights Valley home of another marijuana grower who was friends with Gonzalez-Rivas, Murray said.

An argument between the two men ensued, authorities said. Gonzalez-Rivas, who had asked Bradt to leave the property, didn't know Bradt was armed until moments before the violence broke out, Murray said. Gonzalez-Rivas was found with a stab wound to his neck in addition to 17 to his back, Murray said.

Brandon Rivard, a marijuana trimmer who lived at the home, dialed 911 for help after the stabbing.

“The more Cesar ... insisted that the defendant leave, the more heated the argument got,” Murray said during her opening statements.

But Sonoma County Deputy Public Defender Paige Hein painted a different picture of the events that led up to the stabbing, describing Bradt as the son of a physically abusive father who had experienced a series of traumatic events prior to the 2016 stabbing. Those included the end of his relationship with his longtime fiancée, the adoption of his daughter to another family and the foreclosure of his mother's home, Hein said.

Bradt set out for California from his hometown of Port Huron, Michigan, to work in the marijuana business in hopes of building a better life.

Things turned sour when he arrived at the Knights Valley home, Hein said, where Gonzalez- Rivas had taken Bradt to work on a friend's marijuana harvest and quickly became critical of his work, Hein said. In another incident prior to the stabbing, Gonzalez-Rivas had shut the door to a fireplace in Bradt's face and chastised him, Hein said.

Her client, using a work knife, acted out of self defense when he and Gonzalez-Rivas began arguing the day of the stabbing, Hein said. Rivard called authorities to the home off Highway 128 at 3 p.m.

“He feared for his life,” Hein said of Bradt, adding that he told authorities the same thing when questioned. “Cesar approached him and he instinctually stabbed Cesar in the neck.”

As part of her opening statements, Murray played Rivard's 911 call to the jury. Rivard described hearing a fight break out between the two men and then seeing a bloodied Gonzalez-Rivas near the home's front door.

“He hurt him bad,” Rivard told a dispatcher in the recording. “(Bradt's) having some sort of mental breakdown.”

Daniel Avina, a Sonoma County Sheriff's patrol deputy who was the first to respond, testified that he arrived within minutes after the call and saw Bradt come out in plain view from behind a couple cars parked in front of the home. Bradt got on his stomach and crossed his hands behind his back for the deputy. Avina noticed Bradt's bloodied hands as he placed him in handcuffs and later put him into the back of his patrol car, Avina said.

Avina continued toward the front of the home, finding a frightened Rivard standing over Gonzalez- Rivas, who was still breathing but was unable to move, Avina said. His upper body was surrounded by a large pool of blood.

“You could just tell he was scared,” Avina said of Rivard. “He said he had heard an argument and he came out and saw blood.”

Bradt remains in custody at the Sonoma County Jail without the possibility of bail. He faces a life sentence if convicted. The trial was scheduled resume Wednesday.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com.