The Santa Clara man convicted in July of murdering former
Hollister resident Dolores
”
Dee
”
Gonzales delayed his sentencing Thursday in Santa Clara County
Superior Court.
Hollister – The Santa Clara man convicted in July of murdering former Hollister resident Dolores “Dee” Gonzales delayed his sentencing Thursday in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Adam Hochstraser, 48, dismissed his attorney, Kenneth W. Robinson, and requested a judge appoint him a public defender for the case, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Ted Kajani said Thursday. On July 17, a jury convicted Hochstraser of first-degree murder. He faces 25 years to life in prison.
Kajani, who led the prosecution, said it appeared from Hochstraser’s court filings that he was going to request a new trial.
“I don’t see any grounds,” Kajani said.
Gonzales’ family members and friends made the trip to the San Jose courthouse to hear the sentencing, but were disappointed when a new court date was set to appoint the attorney. Hochstraser will be back in court Thursday.
At that hearing, another court date will be set, possibly for a judge to hear a request for a new trial or for a jury sentencing, Kajani said.
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.
