Los Angeles County district attorney hires special prosecutor to investigate police misconduct

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week approved the hiring of a new special prosecutor to investigate police misconduct cases, less than a month after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was formed. Atty. Nathan Hochman has proposed firing the person his predecessor appointed to the position.

Michael Gennaco, a former federal prosecutor who served as head of the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review and conducted investigations into 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. Oversight Wednesday in court downtown. His contract was approved by the board of directors on Tuesday, and Hochman announced the move Thursday.

Gennaco will replace Lawrence Middleton, a former borough president. Atty. In 2021, George Gascón was hired to reexamine several controversial police shootings that the district attorney’s office had previously declined to prosecute. Middleton has filed just one case in court during that time, although The Times reported last year that he had obtained a warrant for the arrest of a former Los Angeles Police Department officer in another case.

Gennaco said in an interview that Hochman contacted him after beating Gascón and asked him to take on Middleton’s case. It’s unclear whether Gennaco will review other cases or investigate new cases of alleged police misconduct or brutality, which are typically handled by the office’s Justice System Integrity Unit.

“I have to figure out where the case is 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 spokesman. He declined to comment.

The move marks a shift in stance for Hochman, who has repeatedly attacked Gascón’s hiring of a special counsel during the campaign and questioned the need for the position. Records show Middleton charged the county a little more than $1 million between June 2021 and October 2024, a figure that angered rank-and-file prosecutors. Gennaco’s contract will last 18 months, but Hochman has the ability to extend it.

Hochman did not answer a series of questions about Ginaco’s hiring, but his office issued a statement Thursday saying the appointment reflected the new prosecutor’s “unwavering commitment to justice, accountability and public trust.”

“Our goal is to ensure transparency and accountability while increasing public confidence in our justice system,” Hochman said. “As we continue to reevaluate previous decisions and revisit officer-involved shootings, Michael Root Naco’s extensive experience and expertise in civil rights cases will be invaluable.”

Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and founder of Fair and Equitable Prosecution, a nonprofit group that advocates for criminal justice reform, praised Gennako as a key hire for Hochman, given that Hoch Mann has broad support among law enforcement and he faces questions about his willingness to prosecute police officers.

“He’s tenacious. He’s as familiar with police oversight as anyone in California. He has great integrity. He’s very committed to this job,” Krinsky said. “If you look at what he’s done in his career … he knows how to meet the challenges of these cases.”

Gennaco and Hochman worked together for many years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where Gennaco prosecuted many high-profile civil rights and police misconduct cases before being appointed in 2001 to head Los Angeles County’s newly created Office of Independent Review. Conduct cases.

For more than a decade, the office has been investigating violence and excessive use of force in jails, detailing shortcomings in the way the Sheriff’s Department investigates jail deaths and improving the agency’s internal discipline, according to a report from the county’s Jail Citizen Commission. Measures of 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 of Gascón’s enforcement cases.

Gennaco and his former office also faced some criticism for not doing enough to expose a pattern of abuse in the public eye when the FBI launched an investigation that ultimately led to former Sheriff Lee Baca The conviction ended with Hochman serving as legal counsel for his defense. Some Board of Supervisors members also questioned whether Gennaco and the board were “compromised” and lacked independence from the Sheriff’s Department.

Gennaco said anyone who questions his commitment to police accountability should check his resume.

“I’m certainly not shy about criticizing police departments when they deserve criticism and praising them when they shouldn’t,” he said. “I try to follow through on it.”