Los Angeles prosecutors welcome new boss after Gascón defeat: 'Crime is illegal again'
Incumbent Los Angeles Democratic District Attorney George Gascón lost his re-election bid against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, an independent candidate.
Rank-and-file prosecutors, whose union opposed Gascón's candidacy and is involved in court battles with him, are welcoming their new boss as a return to normalcy after a tumultuous four years that saw a rise in violent crime, controversial top-down directives and about two dozen whistleblower retaliation lawsuits against the outgoing DA.
Gascón's embattled term saw him overcome two recall attempts, but he couldn't beat the challenge from Hochman, a former assistant U.S. attorney general with decades of legal experience.
"Crime is illegal again," said Shea Sanna, a deputy district attorney suing Gascón over alleged retaliation and who worked one of the cases that marked one of Gascón's most criticized missteps — the prosecution of convicted killer and child molester James "Hannah" Tubbs.
Gascón treated Tubbs as a juvenile when Tubbs was 26 years old and had already served time in an adult prison, where he has since returned after pleading guilty to killing a friend over $100.
After Sanna protested treating Tubbs with leniency, he says, he was demoted, mistreated and harassed, according to a retaliation lawsuit.
"We have a new DA that will focus on fighting crime instead of fighting his own prosecutors," Sanna told Fox News Digital. "Hochman’s focus will be protecting law-abiding citizens, not murderers and rapists."
"It’s time for district attorneys to go back to the job they were elected to do — follow and enforce the laws, prosecute crime, support victims and do the right thing regardless of political affiliation," said Jonathan Hatami, a deputy district attorney who vied for Gascón's job, came up short in the primary race and threw his support behind Hochman.
"Gascón losing, really getting demolished, had absolutely nothing to do with politics," he told Fox News Digital. "It had everything to do with the fact that he refused to actually do the job of the district attorney. For Angelenos, this wasn’t a national issue. It was a personal one. We all deserve public safety – especially from our DA."
Gascón lost. His fellow far-left district attorney in Alameda County, Pamela Price, was successfully recalled. And California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36, a criminal justice referendum that undid unpopular soft-on-crime policies Gascón and Price supported in the previously passed Proposition 47.
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"After four years of being test subjects in a perverted social experiment, LA County residents have clearly learned the hard way that their vote for district attorney matters more than any other decision on their ballots," said Jason Lustig, another deputy district attorney suing Gascón for alleged retaliation.
"I am confident that Nathan Hochman will restore balance, fairness and organization to an institution that I and hundreds of my colleagues have dedicated our professional lives to."
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Hatami, Sanna and Lustig are among roughly two dozen Los Angeles prosecutors who have taken their departing boss to court, with allegations including retaliation, discrimination and that his chain of command handed down potentially illegal instructions to prosecutors.
Gascón's own top aides have found themselves in another court — the criminal kind — and not on the side prosecutors normally stand.
The state attorney general's office indicted Gascón's No. 3, Diana Teran, on felony charges for her alleged misuse of confidential law enforcement data. His No. 2 lieutenant, Joseph Iniguez, appeared on bodycam video arguing himself into handcuffs after police pulled over his fiancé on suspicion of drunken driving after a wedding in 2021.
"Gascón's reign of terror over LA extended far beyond the prosecutors in his office," said Tatiana Chahoian, another deputy DA with a retaliation lawsuit. "Not only did LA County residents kick him out, they simultaneously passed Prop 36, increasing penalties for certain crimes. They made their voices heard loud and clear – they’ve had enough."
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While she welcomed the change in leadership, she said her case, and others like it, would still move forward.
"He’s permanently damaged careers, forced early retirements and ruined the morale and culture of the office," she told Fox News Digital. "That’s going to take a long time to repair. Culture doesn’t change overnight."
Hochman, a lifelong Los Angeles resident who previously served as the president of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, accused Gascón of "catastrophic incompetence" on the campaign trail and vowed to restore order and common sense.
Gascón is a Cuban expat whose family fled communism in 1967, according to his campaign site. After dropping out of high school, he joined the Army and then the Los Angeles Police Department. He became a police chief in Mesa, Arizona, and in San Francisco.
Then he succeeded Kamala Harris as San Francisco's district attorney when she became the California attorney general.
He served two terms there developing his left-wing policies before winning election in Los Angeles in 2020. Critics have often noted he never handled a case in court at trial.
"Gascón – your reign over LA is finally over," Hatami said. "Please don’t ever run for public office again."