On Monday, a California district attorney announced his plans to withdraw a motion initiated by his predecessor regarding the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez for the murder of their parents in 1989.
The newly-elected Los Angeles County District Attorney, Nathan Hochman, disclosed his intention to revoke George Gascón’s request for a resentencing hearing in the Menendez brothers’ case. Gascón had proposed a change in the brothers’ sentence from life without parole to 50 years to life. However, Hochman’s assessment of the case has revealed details contradicting the brothers’ claims of self-defense, as reported by The Los Angeles Times.
Following the killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez, Erik and Lyle, aged 18 and 21 at the time, asserted that the Mafia was responsible for their parents’ deaths and made efforts to create a false alibi, according to Hochman.
READ: Key Prosecutor Says Menendez Brothers Could Have Different Fates as Resentencing Hearing Looms
“The Menendez brothers have continued to lie for over 30 years about their self-defense — that is, their purported actual fear that their mother and their father were going to kill them the night of the murders,” Hochman wrote in a recent motion. “Also, over those 30 years, they have failed to accept responsibility for the vast number of lies they told in connection with that defense.”
Gascón’s plan would have made Erik and Lyle Menendez immediately eligible for parole. However, his plans were stalled when he lost re-election to Hochman, who removed two deputy district attorneys who were heavily involved in the Menendez brothers’ resentencing bid.
In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez, then 18 and 21, purchased two shotguns with cash and used them to kill their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home. Investigators originally suspected the mafia was behind the slayings. However, a break in the case occurred in 1990 when Erik Menendez confessed to a therapist.
Evidence of Erik and Lyle Menendez’s father molesting them was presented at their first trial — which ended with a hung jury. However, those details were not as prominent during the second trial, resulting in their convictions.
The Menendez brothers filed for clemency in October, before Gascón’s loss to Hochman. California Governor Gavin Newsom paused all proceedings related to clemency in November as Hochman reviewed the case.
Hochman said on Monday that his office will not explore any resentencing options until Erik and Lyle Menendez take responsibility for killing their parents, admit their parents were not planning to kill them, and confess to any lies they told after the slayings.
“[Until then,] they do not meet the standards for resentencing,” Hochman said on Monday, per the Los Angeles Times. “They do not meet the standards for rehabilitation.”
[Feature Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP]
