LOS ANGELES — The new Los Angeles County District Attorney met with the families of the Menendez brothers as they continue to consider their bid for freedom 35 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents.
Nathan Hochman, who took office in December, said Friday he had a “productive session” with relatives, who shared their thoughts on whether the brothers should be released. The meeting lasted about three hours.
Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted and sentenced to death in 1989 for the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez. life in prison without parole. Now they started in their 50s commitment to freedom in recent years when new evidence about their father’s sexual abuse came to light in their case. Their lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition — a request for a court to review whether someone is being detained legally — in May 2023, asking a judge to review the evidence.
The brothers have the support of most of their extended family, which they said they deserve to be free after decades behind bars. Several family members said that in today’s world — which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse — the brothers would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In October 2024, then-District Attorney George Gascon recommended that the brothers be sentenced to 50 years to life, which would have made them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman, who was against Gascony, called it a “desperate political move”.
“Now released, Gaskoia has cast a cloud over the fairness and impartiality of its decision,” he said at the time.
a judge postponed the resentencing hearing of the brothersinitially at the beginning of December until the end of January. Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he needed time to review the extensive evidence and give Hochman time to consider the case.
Hochman said Friday he was reviewing thousands of pages of prison records “to look at the rehabilitative aspect of re-sentencing.” Evidence of rehabilitation includes not engaging in illegal activities while in prison, creating organizations that help other inmates and using that time to improve oneself, he said.
At the brothers’ original trials, their defense attorneys argued that they were sexual abuse from their father. The prosecutor denied it and accused them of killing their parents for money. In the years that followed, they repeatedly appealed their convictions without success.
The brothers are being held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
