After dropping off George Gascón as Los Angeles County’s new District Attorney, Nathan Hochman is catching up to its predecessor’s notorious caseload.
Addressing Gascón’s recent recommendation that Erik and Lyle Menendez be embittered by the 1989 killings of their parents José and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menéndez, Hochman insisted he “will not delay for the sake of delay” when the case potentially crosses his desk.
“For my part, I will work as fast as I can,” he said TMZand notes his years of experience as both a district attorney and a defense attorney. “I will be able to go through all this information quickly. Certainly it will be a high priority, as other similar cases will be a high priority on my desk.”
Hochman — who noted that the decision will still have to go through the court, the parole board and Gov. Gavin Newsom after he has his say — added: “One way or another, the Menendezes, like all the defendants, deserve a decision.”
After criticizing Gascón for the “suspicious” timing of his sudden interest in the case last month during their debate, Hochman takes office ahead of a Dec. 11 hearing on a potential indictment against the brothers, which could see them move significantly closer to being released from their 1996 penalties imposed
“If DA Gascón really thought they should be resentful, he would have sat on eight months of prosecution. He would have sat on the habeas motion for 16 months,” he tells TMZ. “At any time he could have gone ahead and done it, but it wouldn’t have helped him during the election because he made his decision 12 days before the election.”
Hochman added: “By making the decision in the middle of a campaign, when he was 30 points down and had no money in the bank but needed media attention, what he has actually done is cast a cloud over the credibility of whether or not really a fair decision or if it was just for his political benefit. Again, if it lands on my desk I will do the hard work to thoroughly research the facts and the law to make an appropriate decision.”
