Atty district. Nathan Hochman will allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty again in Los Angeles, undoing one of the exclusive policies of his predecessor, George Gascón.
The measure is a small surprise: Hochman campaigned on the subject almost as soon as he announced his challenge to Gascón in 2023. But he still marks a significant change in one of the largest prosecutors of the nation.
According to California's law, the death penalty can only be sought in cases where a defendant is accused of murder with special circumstances. That may include multiple homicides or cases in which the victim is an agent of the law or witness of a crime. If prosecutors do not seek the death penalty in such cases, the defendants face life imprisonment without the possibility of probation.
“I continue unwaveringly committed to the integral and exhaustive evaluation of each case of murder of special circumstances processed in the Los Angeles County, in consultation with the survivors of the victim of murder and with complete contributions on the mitigating and aggravating factors of each case, to ensure that the punishment requested by the office is fair, fair, appropriate and appropriate,” said Hochman in a statement.
In an interview with the times of the day after defeating Gascón, Hochman said he would only look for capital punishment in “rare cases”, such as school shootings, domestic terrorist attacks or the murder of a police officer.
Hochman said Tuesday that the new death penalty policy will give the defense lawyers the opportunity to present evidence of attenuating factors to the Committee of Special Circumstances of the Office, which will decide when a prosecutor can seek the capital punishment in a case.
The Committee will be led by Chief Deputy Steve Katz, or a designated one of his election, as well as three other high -level prosecutors, according to a spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor's Office. Hochman will have the last word about any death penalty decision, said the spokesman.
It is not clear what practical impact will have the change of Hochman's policy. Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in California in 2019, and it is unlikely that the Democrats will retain the control of the legislature and the governor's office in a state where the party has a healthy advantage among the registered voters.
Oppositors to the death penalty often argue that it has a disparate impact on black and Latin defendants and can create irreversible errors, pointing out cases throughout the country in which the defendants were executed despite the serious questions about the validity of their original conviction.
“This decision is a step back for the county of the death penalty is a cruel and irreversible punishment that is racially partial and ineffective as a deterrent,” said the public defender of the Los Angeles County, Ricardo García, in a statement. “The death penalty doubles into a system that has disproportionately harmed the poor and color communities.”
