Veteran Prosecutor to Become Chief Deputy D.A.

A veteran prosecutor and defense lawyer will become Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley’s new second-in-command.

Curt Livesay, 61, who was interim chief deputy district attorney during the first few months of Cooley’s administration last year before retiring in May, will resume that job permanently effective Jan. 22.

As chief deputy, he will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 3,700-employee office.

He will replace Lawrence Mason, who succeeded Livesay in May. Mason will become a senior special assistant and judicial liaison.

Livesay, with more than 35 years as a prosecutor and defense lawyer, held a variety of management positions in previous administrations, including as former Dist. Atty. John Van de Kamp’s chief deputy from 1978 to 1983. In all, he worked in five district attorney administrations.

“He brings to the office excellent judgment, as well as a wealth of institutional knowledge and experience,” Cooley said in an internal memo distributed to his staff.

Livesay’s supervisory background fills a weakness that many critics cited in Mason’s background. Mason was a deputy district attorney for 22 years before becoming a Municipal Court judge in 1997. But he had little management experience before Cooley hired him last year as an assistant district attorney and then as a chief deputy.

Mason, 65, said he doesn’t view his new assignment as a demotion.

“I am here to serve Mr. Cooley in whatever way I can,” Mason said. “It’s a good thing for this office that Mr. Livesay is able to come back here because of his vast amount of experience.”

Livesay became a prosecutor in 1965 and worked his way up to head deputy of the juvenile division, assistant district attorney and chief deputy. For more than 10 years, he controlled the process for deciding whether the death penalty would be sought in murder cases.

He retired from the district attorney’s office in 1991 after serving as one of former Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner’s top assistants and went into private practice. He returned to the district attorney’s office last year to help Cooley organize his administration.