DA opposes resentencing the Menendez brothers, further tightening their path to freedom

A recent decision by the Los Angeles district attorney narrows the path for Erik and Lyle Menendez's freedom. Despite the hopes of many that the brothers be freed from their sentence of life imprisonment without parole, L.A. District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced he opposes the resentencing and release of the brothers, who, since the 1989 killing of their parents inside the family’s Beverly Hills home, have been behind bars. 

The brothers, now ages 57 and 54, have been in jail for nearly 35 years and were originally sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1994.

“Our position is that they shouldn't get out of jail,'' Hochman said in a press conference on Monday.

The two brothers never denied killing their parents during their trials, but they maintained that they did so in self-defense. The brother's defense has been that Jose Menendez, their father, physically and sexually abused both of the brothers for decades, and that their mother knew about it. 

Despite this, the county's top prosecutor said the brothers do not deserve to be free because they have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents.

“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said in a press conference on Monday.

Hochman contended that the Menendez brothers' "continuing failure to demonstrate full insight and accept full responsibility" makes them ineligible for rehabilitation or resentencing. He also called the brothers’ claim that the murders were committed in self-defense “phony,” because they do not match the facts of the case that showed premeditated steps to plan the killings and the brother’s initial attempt to make it look like a gang hit.

"If the Menendez brothers, at some point, unequivocally, sincerely and fully accept complete responsibility for all their criminal actions, acknowledge that the self-defense defense was phony and their parents weren't going to kill them ... and finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DA's office, with their own family members and acknowledge all these lies ... in the future, the court can weigh these new insights into making a determination as to whether they now qualify for rehabilitation and re-sentencing. And the [DA's office] will do the same," Hochman said.

Hochman’s announcement comes less than two weeks before the re-sentencing hearing scheduled for March 20 and 21 at a Van Nuys courtroom. 

He said his office is prepared to go forward with the resentencing hearing but also urged the court, "in the interests of justice," to consider withdrawing a motion for resentencing, originally petitioned by former district attorney George Gascón, who lost his seat to Hochman last November. Re-sentencing for the brothers would mean that they could serve a lesser term, which could allow them to seek parole or be released on time served.  

This is one of several pathways to freedom the brothers are pursuing. The family’s attorneys have also submitted a clemency plea to Governor Gavin Newsom, who last month ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they were released. “The risk assessment will be conducted as they are typically conducted—by experts in public safety as well as forensic psychologists,” the governor said in videotaped remarks first reported by TMZ.

Newsom said the findings will be shared with the L.A. Superior Court judge presiding over the case, as well as with the district attorney and defense attorneys. “There's no guarantee of outcome here,'' Newsom said. “My office conducts dozens and dozens of these clemency reviews on a consistent basis, but this process simply provides more transparency, which I think is important in this case, as well as provides us more due diligence before I make any determination for clemency.'' 

In response to Hochman’s decision,  the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, the family-led initiative advocating for the brother's rrelease, stated, “District Attorney Hochman made it clear today he is holding Erik, Lyle and our family hostage. He appears fixated on their trauma-driven response to the killings in 1989, with blinders on to the fact they were repeatedly abused, feared for their lives and have atoned for their actions. How many times do we have to hear the same attempts to bury who they are today and rip us back to that painful time?” the coalition said.