Hollister – The Santa Clara man convicted in July of murdering former Hollister resident Dee Gonzales was appointed a new attorney Thursday and will appear again in Santa Clara County Court on Oct. 26.
Adam Hochstraser, 48, dismissed his attorney last week on the day he was scheduled to be sentenced for first-degree murder. Hochstraser faces 25 years to life in prison.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Ted Kajani said it appears that Hochstraser is looking for a new trial.
On Oct. 26, Hochstraser’s new attorney should inform a judge whether a new trial will be sought, Kajani said. At that hearing, the judge is expected set a date for a jury to sentence Hochstraser.
Hochstraser beat Gonzales to death with a metal object while she slept in the morning hours of June 5, 2005, and then dismembered her.
Gonzales was born in Hollister in 1961, the fourth of 10 children. She was a 1979 graduate of San Benito High School and once worked for the San Benito County Free Library.
Gonzales went to work at Mission College in Santa Clara in 1982, where she worked for more than 20 years.
She was laid to rest on what would have been her 44th birthday.
