Los Angeles D.A. rejects bid by Menendez brothers to challenge their murder convictions
LOS ANGELES (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman does not support overturning the Menendez brothers' murder convictions.
Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences for their parents' 1989 murders, filed a petition in 2023, citing what they described as new evidence that seeks a new trial.
The brothers have described the killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home on the night of August 20, 1989, as self-defense.
D.A. Hochman said prosecutors had filed a response Friday opposing the petition filed by the brothers.
During a press conference, Hochman explained the three tracks for the case, discussed the new evidence that has come forward, and condemned sexual abuse, but noted that sexual abuse in this situation "does not constitute self defense."
"The Menendez case is on three parallel tracks. The first track is a habeas track. The second track is a petition for clemency that the Menendez's have taken directly to Governor Newsom, and the third track is a track called resentencing.
When they come out in this case, they come out with two new pieces of evidence. one piece being an undated photocopy of a letter purportedly sent by Eric Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano at approximately December 1988, although there's no date on the letter in which it discusses sexual abuse that was being experienced by Eric perpetrated against him by his father at that time. That's the one piece of evidence that they've come forward, but they also came forward with a second piece of allegedly new evidence. The second piece of new evidence was a declaration by Roy Rosello, who basically said that in the early 1980s, he had been sexually abused by Jose Menendez.
If Eric Menendez wrote this letter, he had it or knew about it, or Andy Cano had it and certainly knew about it by the time of the 1993 trials. In fact, it's...a 1988 letter. They would certainly have it by the time of the 1995 trials. So to say that this letter was not discovered after the trial, as it's been alleged in the defense papers, we believe is just wrong.
And I want to focus on the difference in many respects between the fourth and the fifth versions because again, the key for the trial is basically what happened that night, what was in their head that night. Sexual abuse is abhorrent, and we will prosecute sexual abuse in any form it comes. But sexual abuse in this situation, while it may have been a motivation for Eric and Lyle to do what they did, does not constitute self defense, and that's why Leslie Abraham said back in 1993 that sexual abuse does not justify killing your parents, and that they would never argue that. So what happens in this continuum is we analyze some of the examples of the lies and the differing stories that have been told is that we actually saw stuff that was lied about before the killings, during at the time of the killings, and in the months and years afterwards."
Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County District Attorney
Former L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said he supported a request to resentence the brothers to 50 years to life in prison, a move that could make them eligible for parole immediately if approved by a judge.
A two-day hearing on matter is scheduled for March.
The Justice for Erik and Lyle coalition, a family-led initiative advocating for the release of the Menendez brothers, issued a statement in response to Hochman's remarks which reads in part:
"D.A. Hochman promised to take politics out of prosecutorial decisions, but his actions...say otherwise. If he is truly committed to justice, he will follow the law and issue a resentencing recommendation that reflects Erik and Lyle's overwhelming rehabilitation."
