Nathan Hochman, who dethroned George Gascón in November electionwas officially sworn in as the new district attorney of Los Angeles County on Tuesday by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform, often criticizing his opponent for worsening public safety in the county through his approach to running the office. Voters in 2020 chose Gascón, a Democrat who campaigned on a platform of reforms and police accountability after the killing of George Floyd.
During Tuesday’s ceremony, held outside the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles, LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and top law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Robert Luna and newly appointed LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, spoke prior to Hochman’s swearing-in. praising the new prosecutor’s promise to tackle crime in the region.
As he introduced Hochman, Schwarzenegger echoed the sentiments of the LA officials who spoke before him, describing the need for more accountability and a tougher but fair approach to running the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office.
“I’m so happy that you were elected. I’m so happy that you’re our next district attorney because I came here as an immigrant to Los Angeles over 56 years ago because it was the mecca of bodybuilding, the mecca of the movie industry , the mecca of innovation,” said Schwarzenegger “Everything was fantastic here. But what I’ve seen in recent years has been pathetic.”
KCAL News
After taking the oath of office to lead the district attorney’s office, Hochman, a former Republican who ran for years as an independent candidate, reiterated his campaign promises to protect public safety and hold criminals accountable.
“I am deeply honored to be given the opportunity of a lifetime. I have been given to lead the best prosecutor’s office in the country: the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,” Hochman said while speaking alongside his wife, Vivienne.
“We are not here today as Democrats, Independents or Republicans…” he said, “we are here collectively as Angelenos, representing the 10 million clients of the Attorney General’s Office who want to live in a county where safety is a priority. Laws are enforced and those who break them are held accountable and the process to get there is fair, impartial and effective.”
After his election victory, the new prosecutor had said the closely watched race showed frustrations voters had with the policies Gascón had implemented over the past four years.
“What they want is they want a prosecutor for his job so law enforcement can do their job,” Hochman said. “We are going to abolish the extreme blanket policy.”
In an interview with the Associated pressDuring his campaign, Hochman had described Gascón’s policies as advocating a “pro-criminal” approach — claiming that Gascón’s office was “perpetrating” a “culture of lawlessness” in the province.
“We’re going to reverse that,” he said. “You’re basically saying, ‘These are the lines in our society, the lines are the laws, I’m going to enforce them consistently, fairly and impartially, and here are the real consequences on the other side. So if you want that, test me.’ If you think I’m bluffing, I’m not bluffing.
In the past, Hochman has said prosecutors should prosecute lower-level crimes such as loitering for prostitution and drug possession. During an interview with KCAL News, Hochman clarified that he rejects mass incarceration, despite voters’ perception that he is a tough-on-crime candidate with his desire to reverse Gascón’s policies.
“I also reject a policy of mass incarceration that does not look at the facts and the law,” he said. “They just want to put as many people in jail as possible. What I’m coming to is the middle. I call it the hard work middle, or the hard middle, because you have to do the work.”
Hochman’s so-called “hard working middle” strives to avoid blanket policies because they are, in his words, “inherently lazy.”
Wally Skalij
“The middle policy looks at each case individually, the individual suspect and their background, the crime committed and the impact on the victim, to determine who are the real threats to our public safety and who should be behind bars,” Hochman said .
In lieu of prison time, Hochman said he would consider community service, restitution or other sentencing recommendations.
“Pay it back if you stole something,” he said. “Or, if you have a serious drug addiction that caused you to commit the crime – a diversion program that says you can go to jail or do an 18-month drug rehab program, and if you succeed, we will eradicate that crime from your record .”
One of Hochman’s first high-profile cases as prosecutor will be the handling of the criminal case against Erik and Lyle Menendez.
The brothers shot and killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989. They were arrested months later and later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
They had faced two jury trials in 1993 and 1995, with the first ending in a hung jury and mistral, and the second resulting in guilty verdicts.
During their trial and since their conviction, the Menendez brothers claimed they killed their parents in self-defense. In November, they appeared in court for their habeas corpus petition, one of three options in their bid for parole. Sentencing hearings will continue in January, allowing Hochman to review the case fallen.
“I wouldn’t delay for the sake of delay because this case is too important for the Menendez brothers,” Hochman previously said in an interview. November. “It’s too important to the victims’ family members. It’s too important to the public to delay the assessment that people would expect from a prosecutor.”
