LOS ANGELES – The district attorney of Los Angeles County stated on Monday that he does not support Lyle and Erik Menendez’s resentencing because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Resentencing, which could make the brothers immediately eligible for parole, is just one of the options they are exploring to get out of their 1996 murder convictions. District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s predecessor, who lost reelection, had supported resentencing, and advocates for the siblings were waiting to see if the new DA would follow suit.
Hochman told reporters that his decision was based on the brothers’ failure to accept “complete responsibility” for the lies they told as the case progressed, including their initial claim that they did not kill their parents.
He said their repeated claim that they shot their parents in self-defense contradicts the facts of the case, which show their premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it appear like a gang hit.
“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.
Hochman compared Menendez’s case to that of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed US Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He noted that Sirhan, like the Menendez brothers, had received numerous letters of support and was determined to be a low-risk inmate.
However, Governor Gavin Newsom denied Sirhan’s parole in 2022, claiming he continued to pose an unreasonable threat to the public.
Hochman described it as a “instructive case” because, like Sirhan, the Menendez brothers “fell short” of accepting full responsibility for their actions.
The county’s top prosecutor stated that he would support resentencing in the future if the brothers “finally come clean with the court, the public, the DA’s office, and their own family members and acknowledge all of these lies.” He acknowledged that the siblings had taken positive steps toward rehabilitation, such as earning advanced degrees and consistently scoring low on inmate risk assessments.
A court-initiated resentencing hearing has been scheduled for late March.
The couple began their quest for freedom in recent years, after new evidence of their father’s sexual abuse surfaced, and they have the support of the majority of their extended family.
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s family slammed Hochman’s claim that the brothers do not meet the resentencing standards.
“Let us be clear: Erik and Lyle are not the same young boys they were more than 30 years ago,” the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition stated on Monday. “They apologized for their horrific actions. They apologized to us.
They have also demonstrated their atonement by taking actions that have improved the lives of countless people. However, DA Hochman is effectively requesting that they publicly apologize for a series of actions they took in a state of shock and fear.”
Hochman, who took office in December, stated last month that he would oppose a new trial for the Menendez brothers. After being convicted in 1996 of the murders of their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez, the siblings, now in their 50s, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In October, then-District Attorney George Gascón, whom Hochman defeated in the November election, recommended that the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman described his predecessor’s recommendation as a “desperate political move.”
Hochman filed a motion to rescind Gascón’s request, which included a step-by-step analysis of the case demonstrating that the brothers fabricated alibis and lied to police shortly after the killings.
In addition to seeking resentencing, the siblings have made a clemency request to Newsom, who has stated that he will not make a decision until Hochman has reviewed the case. Last month, the governor directed the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a public safety risk if released.
Newsom did not immediately respond to Hochman’s news conference. However, the governor announced on Monday that he would propose a new parole board process similar to the Menendez brothers’ review, which could pave the way for more prison sentences to be reduced.
Tamara Goodall, the brothers’ cousin, asked for Hochman’s removal from the case last week, citing bias. The district attorney rejected the claim.
“I will follow the facts and the law wherever they take us,” he told us.