The Menendez brothers, who have been imprisoned for more than 30 years after being found guilty of the horrific 1989 double murder of their parents in Beverly Hills, are attempting to have the L.A. District Attorney’s Office removed from the case completely, claiming the new DA is biased and has a conflict of interest.
Their fight for freedom is bringing their lawyers back to court in Los Angeles for a hearing on Friday.
The most recent in a series of court hearings about the possible resentencing of 54-year-old Erik Menendez and his 57-year-old brother Lyle Menendez will take place on Friday. It occurs one month after District Attorney Nathan Hochman asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic to dismiss his predecessor George Gascón’s plea that the brothers’ resentencing be taken into consideration.
In their second joint trial, the brothers were denied the opportunity to present their “imperfect” self-defense defense or any proof that José Menendez had sexually and emotionally abused them for the majority of their lives. The way their extended family and the general public perceive the case has completely changed as a result of recent strong proof that the brothers were speaking the truth about the abuse they endured.
The brothers cannot be freed unless they acknowledge that their purpose was greed rather than self-preservation, according to Hochman, who claimed to have spent a lot of time reviewing the case since assuming office last year. According to his office’s assessment, the brothers have told 16 “unacknowledged” lies about the murders. Hochman has steadfastly denied that any abuse occurred in the Menendez home and, like the prosecutors in their second trial, believes the killings were a cold-blooded attempt to extract money from the boys from a wealthy family.
Hochman refuses to think about resentencing the brothers because he does not think the new evidence in the case is credible; he feels that they have not “accepted complete responsibility for their actions.” The lawyers for the Menendez brothers stated in a recent court filing that “absent recusal, a conflict of interest would render it likely that the defendants will receive neither a fair hearing nor fair treatment through all related proceedings” due to these and other reasons.
A prosecution in the case, according to defense lawyer Mark Geragos, broke Marsy’s Law by displaying a picture of the crime scene during a hearing. One of the Menendez brothers’ relatives was taken to the hospital after the courthouse session last month due to the shock of witnessing this. Additionally, Hochman removed two prosecutors who collaborated with Gascón on the Menendez case and backed their resentencing when he took over the L.A. DA’s office. Both claim they were demoted in reprisal for supporting the Menendez resentencing bid, and they are suing DA Hochman for swiftly removing them from the department where they reviewed cases for possible resentencing. Hochman has also enlisted the services of a lawyer who previously defended a member of the Menendez family who objected to their resentencing.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without the chance of release for the shotgun murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, on August 20, 1989. A letter Erik wrote to his late cousin that came to light decades later verified the abuse, even though their accusations of abuse and threats to their life from their parents were not admitted in their second joint trial. Around the same period, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo came forward to say that the patriarch of Menendez, who had run RCA Records in the 1980s and landed the group a $30 million contract, had badly mistreated him.
In their application to have Hochman dismissed from the case, the brothers’ lawyers stated that Erik and Lyle Menendez were entitled to a fair resentencing procedure. “The family members of José and Kitty Menendez are all entitled to a fair sentencing procedure, regardless of their stance on resentencing. The public has a right to what seems to be a fair procedure.
“Aside from the fact that they do not agree with, or like, the current legal position of the District Attorney’s Office, the defense has completely failed to articulate any legitimate conflict of interest which would create a likelihood that the defendants would be treated unfairly,” the DA’s office wrote in response to the lawyers’ accusations of bias.
In a filing this week, the California Attorney General’s Office stated that it concurs with Hochman’s office and that there is no “disabling conflict of interest” created by the two prosecutors switching places and employing the lawyer who had a relationship with a cousin.
Recusal is “about accountability and ensuring [District Attorney] Nathan Hochman’s office stops crossing ethical lines and starts respecting our rights as victims under Marsy’s Law,” according to a statement from the Menendez family-led movement that specifically targeted the DA.
The state parole board’s evaluations of the Menendez brothers in relation to their plea for clemency will also be considered on Friday. The brothers will have separate hearings on June 13 before the reports are forwarded to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has a term limit, for a potential clemency ruling. Although he has been methodical and following the rules in advancing the case at the state level, Newsom has indicated that he favors the brothers regaining their freedom.
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