Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman hires new special prosecutor for police misconduct
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The L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved the hiring of a new special prosecutor to look into police misconduct cases this week, less than a month after Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman moved to fire the person his predecessor named to that post.
Michael Gennaco, an ex-federal prosecutor who once headed L.A. County’s Office of Independent Review and has conducted oversight of troubled agencies such as the Department of Children and Family Services and the county Sheriff’s Department, made his first appearance on behalf of the district attorney’s office in a downtown courtroom Wednesday. His contract was approved by the board Tuesday, and Hochman announced the move Thursday.
Gennaco will replace Lawrence Middleton, whom former Dist. Atty. George Gascón hired in 2021 to reexamine a number of controversial police shootings that the district attorney’s office previously declined to prosecute. Middleton brought just one case to court in all that time, though The Times reported last year that he had obtained a warrant to arrest an ex-LAPD officer in another case.
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In an interview, Gennaco said Hochman contacted him after defeating Gascón and asked him to take over Middleton’s caseload. It was not clear if Gennaco would be reviewing other cases or looking at incoming instances of alleged police misconduct or brutality, which are normally handled by the office’s Justice Systems Integrity Division.
“I’ve got to figure out where the cases are, procedurally, substantively, factually and then figure out where to go,” he said.
Middleton was informed that his contract had been terminated on Jan. 7, according to a county spokeswoman. He declined to comment.
The move marked a change in stance by Hochman, who repeatedly attacked Gascón’s hiring of a special prosecutor on the campaign trail and questioned the need for such a position. Records show Middleton billed the county for just over $1 million between June 2021 and October 2024, a figure that infuriated rank-and-file prosecutors. Gennaco’s contract is set to last 18 months, though Hochman has the ability to extend it.
Hochman did not respond to a list of questions about Genacco’s hiring, but his office issued statement Thursday saying the appointment reflects the new D.A.’s “unwavering commitment to justice, accountability and public trust.”
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said he intends to terminate the services of Lawrence Middleton, the special prosecutor his predecessor hired to investigate past police shootings.
“Our goal is to ensure transparency and accountability while strengthening public confidence in our justice system,” Hochman said. “Michael Gennaco’s extensive experience and expertise in civil rights cases will be invaluable as we continue to reevaluate prior decisions and take a fresh look at cases involving officer-involved shootings.”
Miriam Krinsky — a former federal prosecutor and founder of Fair and Just Prosecution, a nonprofit that advocates for criminal justice reform — praised Gennaco as an important hire for Hochman, who has faced questions about his appetite to prosecute police given his broad support among law enforcement unions.
“He is tenacious. He has as much familiarity with police oversight as anyone in California. He has tremendous integrity. He’s very committed to this work,” Krinsky said. “If you look at what he has done through his career ... he knows how to navigate the challenges of these cases.”
Gennaco and Hochman worked together in the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles for years, where Gennaco prosecuted a number of high-profile civil rights and police misconduct cases before he was named to head L.A. County’s newly formed Office of Independent Review in 2001.
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For more than a decade, that office looked into issues of jail violence and excessive force, detailing shortcomings in the way the Sheriff’s Department investigated deaths in the jails and improving the agency’s internal disciplinary measures, according to a report from the county’s Citizens Commission On Jail Violence in 2012.
In recent years, Gennaco has conducted audits and reviews of use-of-force cases in Burbank and Anaheim. He also said he reviewed some force cases for Gascón.
Gennaco and his former office have also faced some criticism for not doing enough to uncover patterns of abuse that exploded into the public eye when the FBI launched a probe that eventually ended in the conviction of former Sheriff Lee Baca, for whom Hochman once served as defense counsel. Some members of the Board of Supervisors also questioned if Gennaco and the board had been “compromised” and lacked independence from the Sheriff’s Department.
Gennaco said anyone who questioned his commitment to police accountability should simply check his resume.
“I’m certainly not shy about criticizing police departments when criticism is due, and complimenting them when it’s not,” he said. “I try to play it down the line.”
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