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Menendez brothers case: DA asks court to withdraw resentencing motion, calls self-defense claims 'lies'

Lyle and Erik Menendez are each serving two life sentences without parole.

District attorney opposes new trial for Menendez brothersThe Los Angeles County D.A. has asked the court to deny the Menedez brother's petition for a new trial.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Monday he's asking the court to withdraw the previous district attorney's motion for resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, calling the brothers' claims of self-defense part of a litany of "lies."

"We are prepared to go forward" with the hearing regarding their resentencing case, Hochman said at a news conference Monday. "However, we are asking the court to withdraw the previous district attorney's motion for resentencing, because we believe there are legitimate reasons and the interests of justice justifies that withdrawal."

The resentencing hearing is set for March 20 and 21.

Erik Menendez, left, and is brother Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home on Nov. 30, 1989. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE
Erik Menendez, left, and is brother Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home on Nov. 30, 1989. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE
 

The request to withdraw the resentencing motion is "based on the current state of the record and the Menendez brothers' current and continual failure to show full insight and accept full responsibility for their murders," Hochman said in a statement. "If they were to finally come forward and unequivocally and sincerely admit and completely accept responsibility for their lies of self-defense and the attempted suborning of perjury they engaged in, then the Court should weigh such new insight into the analysis of rehabilitation and resentencing -- as will the People."

Hochman said his decision comes after reviewing trial transcripts from both trials, prison records and videotaped trial testimony, as well as meeting with Menendez family members, defense attorneys and past prosecutors.

Hochman stressed the premeditation, noting the brothers drove to San Diego days before the murders to buy guns with a fake ID and on the night of the murders, they planned an alibi and went to buy movie tickets, he said.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman talks about the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez for the murders of their parents during a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, Jan. 3, 2025. Damian Dovarganes/AP, FILE
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman talks about the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez for the murders of their parents during a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, Jan. 3, 2025. Damian Dovarganes/AP, FILE
 

 

After Jose and Kitty Menendez were fatally shot, the brothers allegedly shot them in the kneecaps to allegedly try to make the slayings look like a gang shooting, Hochman said.

The brothers "also had the presence of mind to pick up all the shotgun shells" to try to hide their fingerprints, and then they ditched their bloody clothes and the weapons, Hochman said.

Hochman said the brothers told 20 lies and admitted to four; he said 16 lies remain "unacknowledged."

Hochman stressed the brothers changed their story multiple times.

The brothers initially proclaimed their innocence and said the murders may have been Mafia hits.

In these booking photos taken Oct. 10, 2024, Erik and Lyle Menendez are shown. CRDC
In these booking photos taken Oct. 10, 2024, Erik and Lyle Menendez are shown.
CRDC
 

The truth about the brothers being responsible came after Erik Menendez confessed to his therapist and that confession tape was turned over to the police.

"They convinced, not just the media, not just the police, but their family and their friends that they were 100% innocent of these crimes, until eventually these tapes came out," Hochman said.

The "next iteration of the story" was when Lyle Menendez allegedly asked his girlfriend to claim Jose Menendez drugged and raped her, Hochman said.

The brothers later said Erik Menendez was raped by their father and Lyle Menendez was raped by their mother, he said.

At trial, the brothers claimed self-defense, saying they suffered sex abuse from their father and believe their parents were going to kill them .

But Hochman said Monday that "the self-defense defense was a fabrication."

Erik Menendez with his attorney Leslie Abramson and his brother Lyle Menendez in Los Angeles, March 9, 1994. Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images, FILE
 

The "brothers have never come clean and admitted that they lied about their self-defense as well as suborned perjury and attempted to suborn perjury by their friends for the lies, among others, of their father violently raping Lyle's girlfriend, their mother poisoning the family, and their attempt to get a handgun the day before the murders," the DA said in a statement.

The court needs to "analyze whether the Menendez brothers' lack of full insight and lack of complete responsibility for their murders overcomes ... the other factors justifying a resentencing like the Menendez' length of time in prison, their age at the time of the murders, their upbringing and any sexual abuse they experienced, their extensive rehabilitation efforts in prison including getting educational degrees and involvement in community and prison programs, any supportive letters from prison officials and victim family members, their health, and the low prison risk score," Hochman said.

Lyle and Erik Menendez are serving life without the possibility of parole.

In October, then-LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced he supported resentencing for the brothers. Gascón recommended their sentences of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.

Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle (R) listen during a pre-trial hearing, Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles after the two pleaded innocent in the August 1989 shotgun deaths of their parents, Jose and Mary Louise Menendez. Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images
Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle (R) listen during a pre-trial hearing, Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles after the two pleaded innocent in the August 1989 shotgun deaths of their parents, Jose and Mary Louise Menendez. Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images
 

The DA's office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.

Weeks after Gascón's announcement, he lost his race for reelection to Hochman.

When Hochman came into office on Dec. 3, he promised to review all the facts before reaching his own decision. He said that effort included speaking to all the prosecutors and defense attorneys involved as well as reviewing thousands of pages of court filings, trial transcripts and confidential prison records.

Hochman's announcement on Monday comes days after one of the brothers' cousins, Tamara Goodell, slammed the DA in a letter to the U.S. Attorney's Office Civil Rights Division.

Goodell accused Hochman of being "hostile, dismissive and patronizing" during two meetings in January with family members who want the brothers released. She said the "lack of compassion was palpable, and the family left feeling not only ignored but further intimidated and revictimized."

PHOTO: Joan Andersen VanderMolen, center, speaks to the media surrounded by family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez during a news conference after a hearing in Los Angeles, Nov. 25, 2024.
Joan Andersen VanderMolen, center, speaks to the media surrounded by family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez, and attorney Mark Geragos, far left, and attorney Bryan Freedman, far right, during a news conference after a hearing in Los Angeles, Nov. 25, 2024. Damian Dovarganes/AP, FILE
 

Goodell wants Hochman removed and the case turned over to the attorney general's office.

This case dates back to 1989, when Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, shot and killed their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, in the family's Beverly Hills home.

Their first trial ended in a mistrial. Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 following their second trial.

Besides resentencing, the brothers have been pursuing two other paths to freedom.

One is their habeas corpus petition, which they filed in 2023 for a review of two new pieces of evidence not presented at trial: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father, and allegations from a former boy band member who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.Hochman announced in February that he's asked the court to deny the habeas corpus petition, arguing the new evidence isn't credible or admissible.

The third path to freedom is through the brothers' request for clemency, which has been submitted to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

On Feb. 26, Newsom announced that he's ordering the parole board to conduct a 90-day "comprehensive risk assessment" investigation into whether the brothers pose "an unreasonable risk to the public" if they're granted clemency and released.

"There's no guarantee of outcome here," Newsom said. "But this process simply provides more transparency ... as well as provides us more due diligence before I make any determination for clemency."

 

Author: Emily Shapiro

Source: ABC GMA

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