The Los Angeles District Attorney met Menendez brothers‘ relatives on Friday, but said he is still reviewing the facts of the case and has not yet decided whether he supports the brothers’ request for freedom.
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said when he took office on Dec. 3 that he promised to review all the facts of the Erik and Lyle Menendez case. He said the effort involved reviewing thousands of pages of confidential prison files, trial transcripts, speaking with all the prosecutors and defense attorneys involved and reviewing court filings.
Hochman said the effort is continuing, noting that he has not finished reviewing all the prison files from the decades of the brothers’ prisons.
Erik and Lyle Menendez are pictured in these booking photos taken on October 10, 2024.
CRDC
More than 20 of Menendez’s relatives joined Hochman on Friday to continue pushing for the brothers to be released from prison.
Hochman called the conversation “very productive” and “in some ways, an informal, off-the-record discussion.”
“They gave me all their thoughts on what needed to happen, the experiences they wanted to share, the ultimate direction they wanted this case to take,” he said.
Hochman did not disclose the details of the conversation.
In a brief press conference, Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the Menendez brothers, spoke after the family’s meeting with Hochman on Friday evening.
“We had a meeting with the district attorney and appreciate his time,” he said in a statement. “I want to reiterate our position as a family and as the families of the victims that this 35-year process has been incredibly traumatizing for us, as I’m sure you can all imagine.”
He said the family hoped the brothers would be released immediately, adding that going before the parole board “will only serve to re-traumatize us.”
Former state attorney George Gascón announced in October that he was recommending that the brothers be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and instead be sentenced to 50 years to life for murder. Since both brothers were under the age of 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be immediately eligible for parole with the new sentence.
The DA’s office said its sentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including prison rehabilitation and abuse or trauma that led to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.
A few weeks after Gascon’s announcement, he lost out to Hochman for selection.
Erik and Lyle Menendez will next appear in court on January 30 and January 31 for a retrial.
This comes after the brothers’ attorneys are petitioning to be transferred from the DA’s office to the California Attorney General’s Office, claiming a conflict of interest between Hochman and Kathleen Cady, whom Hoch recently named director of the department’s Office of Victim Services. .
Cady recently resigned as the attorney for Milton Anderson, the only Menendez relative who is pushing to keep the brothers in prison.
Hochman said Friday that Cady is “walled off from the Menendez case.”
Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit with defense attorney Leslie Abramson, right, in Beverly Hills Municipal Court, November 26, 1990, during a hearing.
Nick Ut/AP
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 Since the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, who were shot in the family’s Beverly Hills home.
The defense said the brothers acted in self-defense after being sexually abused by their father, but prosecutors alleged they killed him for money.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 21 and 18 at the time of the crime, respectively, were sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
In addition to resentment, the brothers have pursued two others ways to freedom.
In 2023, the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition to review new evidence that was not presented at trial.
A has also been presented request for grace Gavin Newsom to the Governor of California. In November, Newsom said Hochman would allow a “review and analysis of the Menendez case” before making any decisions.
ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris contributed to this report.
