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March 11, 2025: District Attorney Hochman Announces Felony Charges Against Trio in Major Fentanyl Bust

 

Felony Charges Against Trio in Major Fentanyl Bust

LOS ANGELES — District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that felony charges were filed against three individuals — including two siblings — accused of possessing a total of more than 50 pounds of fentanyl with an intent to sell.

“Fentanyl remains the leading cause of death in accidental drug overdose cases in Los Angeles County,” District Attorney Hochman said. “Just 1 kilo of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. A 50-pound seizure of fentanyl is greater than all the fentanyl seized at the U.S.-Canadian border in 2024, which was 43 pounds. We will be unrelenting in our pursuit to end this tragedy and bring justice to the countless families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl.

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March 10, 2025: Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman Files Decision on Menendez Resentencing Motion

 

Menendez Resentencing Motion

 

LOS ANGELES — District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that his office has filed a response on the resentencing matter for Lyle and Erik Menendez.

The resentencing hearing for the Menendez brothers is scheduled for March 20 and 21 in Van Nuys, with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic presiding.

“After a thorough and exhaustive review of the over 10,000s of pages of trial transcripts from two months-long trials, of the 1,000s of pages of prison records, of the 100s of hours of videotaped trial testimony, of all relevant pleadings, exhibits and statements, as well as interviewing victim family members, defense counsel, prior prosecutors, and law enforcement and the applicable law, the District Attorney’s Office is prepared to proceed forward with the hearing on the Court’s initiation of resentencing proceedings for the Menendez brothers but we are requesting that the prior District Attorney’s motion for resentencing be withdrawn,” District Attorney Hochman said. “The basis for that request is that the prior motion did not examine or consider whether the Menendez brothers have exhibited full insight and taken complete responsibility for their crimes by continuing for the past over 30 years to lie about their claims of self-defense, that is, their fear that their mother and father were going to kill them the night of Aug. 20, 1989, justifying the brutal murders of their parents with shotgun blasts through the back of their father’s head, a point-blank blast through their mother’s face, and shots to their kneecaps to stage it as a Mafia killing. As a full examination of the record reveals, the Menendez brothers have never come clean and admitted that they lied about their self-defense as well as suborned perjury and attempted to suborn perjury by their friends for the lies, among others, of their father violently raping Lyle’s girlfriend, their mother poisoning the family, and their attempt to get a handgun the day before the murders.

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February 21, 2025: DA Announces Filing of LADA's Informal Response to Menendez Habeas Petition

 

February 21, 2025: The Anatomy of The Menendez Case

 

 

LOS ANGELES — District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that his office has filed an informal response to the habeas petition submitted by Lyle and Erik Menendez in May 2023. The filing was made pursuant to a court order in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

In addition to the court filing, the District Attorney’s Office has provided an educational resource for the public. A link to an informational video discussing the Menendez case from a procedural perspective has been made available on the DA’s website with links below. The video aims to provide insight into the workings of the criminal justice system, using the Menendez case as a framework to explain legal proceedings.

“I want to thank the dedicated attorneys and staff in my office particularly Assistant Head Deputy Habib Balian; and Deputy District Attorneys Seth Carmack and Ethan Milius for their diligent work on this case,” District Attorney Hochman said. “Transparency and public education are essential to ensuring confidence in our justice system, and I encourage the public to utilize these resources to better understand the legal process.”

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February 10, 2025: DA Hochman Announces Felony Charges Against Man Accused of Throwing Object Onto 101 Freeway During Protest

 

 

LOS ANGELES — District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that Martin Richard Torres has been charged in the felony crime of throwing an object onto the 101 Freeway with an intent to cause great bodily injury during an immigration protest.

“Everyone has the right to express their views and engage in peaceful protest — that is fundamental to our democracy,” District Attorney Hochman said. “But when actions cross the line into criminal behavior that endangers lives, my Office will not hesitate to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Throwing objects onto a busy freeway is not an act of protest; it is a reckless and dangerous crime that could seriously injure or kill innocent people. If you use a protest as a cover for criminal activity, know this — you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be held accountable.”

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