Los Angeles County District Attorney said his office fully supports the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in a legal challenge to Governor ’s blanket commutation of all 548 death row sentences.

The office said about 382 of the 548 cases involve multiple felonies and cannot be commuted without majority approval from the California Supreme Court.

Los Angeles County accounts for more than 150 of the condemned inmates affected, including Chester Turner and Michael Gargiulo, the office said.

District Attorney Hochman said the commutation bypasses victims’ families and the electorate; he argued governors historically conduct individualized reviews and consult with surviving family members.

“We stand firmly with the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in challenging this arbitrary commutation that sidelines victims’ families and disregards the will of California voters, juries and judges,” District Attorney Hochman said.

Hochman said he has personally reviewed more than 50 death‑penalty‑eligible cases during his roughly 20 months in office and that, after those reviews, the death penalty has not been applied in any of them.

Hochman pointed to the 1996 convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez as an example that life without the possibility of parole can later be altered by the Legislature; he said the Legislature cannot change a death sentence in the same way.

The district attorney’s office said the California Supreme Court is reviewing the constitutionality and scope of the governor’s request, including the separate review processes required for multiple‑felony offenders, and urged the court to reject mass clemency.

Local

Nathan J. Hochman

District Attorney of Los Angeles County

Named 5 times in this story.

Everything the Journal has reported on NathanOfficial site

Portrait: Los Angeles County District Attorney / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

State

Gavin Newsom

Governor · Democrat

Named once in this story.

Everything the Journal has reported on GavinOfficial site

Portrait: Official portrait

Sources & methodology

This report was written from the primary materials below. Links open at the original publisher.

County of Los Angeles

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