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DA announces special prosecutor to handle police misconduct cases
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman speaks at his swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A.
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Frank Stoltze
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LAist
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Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Thursday that he had selected a new special prosecutor to review police misconduct cases, as well as review shootings and alleged misconduct by police and other law enforcement.
Who is the new special prosecutor?
Michael Gennaco, a former federal prosecutor and one-time Sheriff’s Department watchdog, was appointed by Hochman. The district attorney said Gennaco will be empowered “to reexamine evidence and, where warranted by the facts and law, pursue criminal charges against law enforcement officers.”
Gennaco, whose decisions will be subject to review by Hochman, told LAist there’s always been “the perception, if not the reality” that the district attorney’s office is not objective on police misconduct cases because it works so closely with police.
Michael Gennaco was appointed by L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to serve as a special prosecutor, handling police misconduct cases.
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Courtesy Michael Gennaco
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Gennaco said he would provide “a level of objectivity and distance.”
What are his qualifications for the job?
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office called Gennaco “among the nation’s foremost experts in civil rights and police misconduct cases," according to a news release.
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As a former chief of the Civil Rights Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Gennaco prosecuted police misconduct cases. He also was the chief attorney of the Office of Independent Review for Los Angeles County, which included watchdogging the Sheriff’s Department.
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DA announces special prosecutor to handle police misconduct cases
He has performed several monitoring tasks, audits and reviews for a federal judge, special masters, and other governmental entities, according to his website.
What Hochman said about the appointment
The district attorney said in a news release his office is working to
"to ensure transparency and accountability while strengthening public confidence in our justice system," and that this appointment was aimed at furthering that goal.
"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,” Hochman said.
Gennaco told LAist that one of the first cases he’s been asked to review is the 2018 fatal shooting of a man by two Torrance police officers. A grand jury indicted the officers in 2023. The officers have maintained the shooting was justified.
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Charges for police under previous DA
Former D.A. George Gascón also had a special prosecutor in his office who handled police misconduct cases, but he was limited to examining four past cases and never prosecuted any of them.
However, Gascón’s Justice System Integrity Division filed charges against more than 16 law enforcement officers in connection with in-custody deaths or shootings. In the 20 years prior to Gascón, DAs had filed only two cases.
The DA’s Justice System Integrity Division will continue to handle officer-involved shootings and alleged police misconduct, subject to review by Gennaco.
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