LOS ANGELES — A prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday he will run to replace current DA George Gascón. Jonathan Hatami, who has successfully prosecuted several high-profile cases against the parents of tortured and murdered children, promised “truth and justice over politics” on his campaign website and in a video announcing his 2024 bid for office.
“In the midst of our public safety crisis, I’ve seen the failures of our elected leaders who promised to do better but only end up making things worse,” Hatami said in the video.
A prosecutor in the Complex Child Abuse Unit at the Hall of Justice in downtown LA, Hatami was among the first to publicly criticize Gascón for his policies in 2020, days after the current DA took office and ordered Hatami to remove charges against a parent accused of torturing and murdering her young daughter.
“I’ve always believed being a good prosecutor means telling the truth and doing the right thing. That’s the justice,” he said. “I believe in December 2020, George Gascón changed all of that.”
Gascón has had a troubled term as LA’s district attorney since narrowly defeating incumbent Jackie Lacey. A criminal justice reformer who opposes the death penalty and the over-incarceration of people of color, he has been the subject of two failed recall petitions in 2021 and 2022 for being soft on crime.
Like Gascón, who was born in Cuba before emigrating to Southern California and serving in the U.S. Army, Hatami is the child of an Iranian immigrant and a military veteran. Unlike Gascón, he is a child abuse survivor.
Abused by his father and kidnapped by his mother, Hatami said on his website that personal experiences prompted him to dedicate his life to help abused and neglected children.
He graduated Cum Laude from California State University-Northridge with the help of the GI Bill, Pell grants and student aid, and graduated from the University of Nebraska law school with a Juris Doctor with Honors.
After working as a law clerk for the Court of Appeals and in private practice, Hatami joined the LA District Attorney’s Office in 2006 as a deputy district attorney, working in East LA, El Monte, Van Nuys and the Antelope Valley. Ten years later, he was selected to serve in the country’s first Complex Child Abuse unit in LA’s Hall of Justice.
As a prosecutor, Hatami has worked on thousands of domestic violence, hate crime and complex homicide cases, as well as physical and sexual abuse cases involving children. He was a prosecutor in the trial against the mother of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez and her boyfriend, both of whom are now serving prison time for torture and murder.
This month, Hatami successfully prosecuted another high-profile case against the mother of ten-year-old Anthony Avalos and her boyfriend, who beat, tortured and killed Avalos in 2018.
“The cases I’ve handled are some of the worst of the worst hate crimes: violence against our elders, child molestation, domestic violence, sexual assaults and the torture and murder of children,” Hatami said in his campaign announcement video.
If elected district attorney, he plans to prioritize public safety with the implementation of strategies to prevent crime, maintain peace, hold violent offenders accountable and establish a path to success for low-level offenders, the 42-year-old said on his campaign website.