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View Winners → Politics Nov 11, 2024
| Image courtesy of LA County District Attorney's Office
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Los Angeles County District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman announced Monday that he will appoint veteran prosecutor Steve Katz as chief deputy DA.
Katz will serve as Hochman’s second-in-command and oversee all aspects of the DA’s office.
“I have known Steve Katz for over 40 years and can unequivocally attest to his exceptional character and integrity,” Hochman said in a statement. “He has repeatedly demonstrated that he has the intellect, experience, dedication, judgment and leadership skills to be an outstanding Chief Deputy. Mr. Katz shares my unwavering commitment to criminal justice, public safety, victims’ rights and the continuing need for systemic reform, and I am proud and excited to make him an integral part of my administration.”
Katz has been with the DA’s office since 1990. He has held numerous posts countywide as a trial prosecutor and a calendar deputy, including work on 83 jury trials and nine years in office management, according to Hochman’s announcement. Katz was promoted to head deputy DA in 2013 and has led the office’s Parole, Writs and Appeals, Airport Branch and Public Integrity divisions.
Annually since 2010, Katz has co-authored and co-edited three chapters in the Continuing Education of the Bar annual treatise, Criminal Sentencing Enhancements. He has also served as a chair and member of the State Bar’s Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Section.
Katz has lectured and written extensively on areas of criminal law that include DUIs and vehicular homicides. He graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 1989.
Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, will replace George Gascón after receiving 60.3% of the vote and well over 600,000 more votes than the incumbent.
Gascón took office four years ago after pledging to implement progressive policies aimed at reducing high incarceration rates and crime recidivism. That platform led to allegations that the former San Francisco police chief was soft on crime.
Throughout his tenure as DA and during this year’s campaign Gascón denied that his policies have resulted in a crime increase, countering that statistics actually indicate reductions in many crime categories. Hochman, however, disputed that assertion and pledged to make sure defendants receive adequate punishment for crimes.
