Los Angeles da Nathan Hochman opposed a new process for Lyle and Erik Menendez on Friday and said that the brothers have a history of “lies, deception and stories.”
During a press conference, Hochman said that he concluded that supposed new proof of sexual abuse should not influence the culprit judgments of the brothers for the killing of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1989. Hochman also noted that the brothers gave a series of changing stories about the murders, and under pressure their friends also put pressure on to help them by lying in court.
He concluded that the last claims belong to a “continuum of lies” that the brothers have told in recent decades.
The Menendez brothers serve in prison without conditional release in prison. Last October, in the midst of a flurry of renewed attention to the controversial case, Da George Gascón said that he would ask a court to lower their penalties to 50 years, which makes them eligible for conditional release.
Hochman, who succeeded Gascón in December, said on Friday that he is still revising that decision and will announce the position of the office within the next two weeks.
The lawyers of the brothers has submitted a Habeas Corpus -Petition In 2023 with the argument that new evidence had come to light that justified a new test. The evidence included an alleged letter from 1988 by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano, who complained about the abuse of his father and a statement by Menudo band member Roy Rosselló, who claimed that Jose Mensendez raped him in the 1980s.
In an extensive presentation on Friday afternoon, Hochman noted that the letter was never raised during one of the two trials of the brothers, although both Erik Menendez and Andy Cano testified and know about it. He also argued that Roselló’s claim was not relevant to the claim of the brothers about ‘imperfect self -defense’, given that they were not aware of the claim of Roselló at the time of the murders.
The DA’s office has submitted an “informal answer” To the petition on Friday, which runs up to 87 pages. Hochman also published one Video of 16 minutes“The anatomy of the Mendez case”, in which he goes through the case in detail.
The family and supporters of the brothers have argued that the attitude about sexual abuse of boys has shifted since the trials. Hochman met with the Mendez family in January to hear their plea for the release of the brothers.
Gascón, a reformer of criminal law, did not set up the petition of the brothers for Habeas Corpus during his term of office. He followed a different route and found that the brothers were sufficiently rehabilitated to justify a sentence reduction that would cause conditional release.
During the press conference, Hochman said that his office is still evaluating the issue of rehabilitation. In December, however, he removed the two representatives, Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, who had supervised the case in the Gascón government. Since then, those lawyers have submitted claims against the county, with the argument that they have been transferred illegally because of their farewell to faith that the brothers have earned resentment.
Judge Michael V. Jesic will hold a hearing on the resort request on 20-21 March. From the defense team of Mendez, led by Mark Geragos, it is expected that the court asks to reduce the prison sentence of the brothers, regardless of the position of the DA on this issue.
Lyle and Eric Menendez have been locked up for 35 years. They were convicted of murder in the first degree in 1996 and sentenced to life without a conditional release, after a jury decided not to give them the death penalty. They exhausted their appeal in 2005 when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal maintained their beliefs.
Last September Netflix released a Ryan Murphy series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”, who caught the attention of the press and calls Gascón to respond to the Habeas -Petition. Gascón ultimately concluded that the brothers “have paid their debt to society.”
The brothers have also sought Clementie from GOV. Gavin Newsom, who has previously said he will postpone to Hochman.