International Courant
The Los Angeles County district legal professional met with the Menendez brothers’ family members on Friday however stated he’s nonetheless reviewing the info within the case and has not but determined whether or not he helps the brothers’ bid for freedom.
LA County District Legal professional Nathan Hochman stated that when he took workplace on Dec. 3, he promised to assessment all of the info in Erik and Lyle Menendez’s case. He stated the trouble included reviewing hundreds of pages of confidential jail information, trial transcripts, chatting with all prosecutors and protection attorneys concerned and reviewing court docket information.
Hochman stated efforts proceed, noting he has not but completed reviewing all of the jail information from the many years the brothers have been behind bars.
These reserving pictures taken on October 10, 2024 present Erik and Lyle Menendez.
CRDC
Greater than two dozen relations of Menendez met with Hochman on Friday of their continued push for the brothers’ launch from jail.
Hochman described the dialog as “very productive” and “in some methods an off-the-cuff, off-the-record dialogue.”
“They gave me all their ideas on what wanted to be executed, their experiences they needed to share, the last word path they needed this case to go in,” he stated.
Hochman didn’t reveal the small print of the dialog.
In a quick handle to reporters, Anamaria Baralt, cousin of the Menendez brothers, spoke out after the household assembly with Hochman Friday afternoon.
“We’ve got met with the district legal professional and we’re grateful for his time,” she stated in a press release. “I wish to reiterate our place as a household and as households of the victims that this 35-year course of has been extremely traumatizing for us, as I am certain you possibly can think about.”
She stated the household hoped for a right away launch for the brothers, saying taking the parole board to court docket “will solely serve to retraumatize us.”
The earlier district legal professional, George Gascón, introduced in October that he was recommending that the brothers’ life sentence with out the potential of parole be thrown out, and that they need to as an alternative be convicted of homicide, which carries a 50-year jail sentence can be for all times. As a result of each brothers have been underneath 26 years previous on the time of the crimes, the brand new sentence would make them instantly eligible for parole.
The district legal professional’s workplace stated sentencing suggestions bear in mind many elements, together with rehabilitation in jail and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and assist different inmates.
Weeks after Gascón’s announcement, he misplaced his race for re-election to Hochman.
Erik and Lyle Menendez will subsequent seem in court docket on January 30 and 31 for a listening to within the felony case.
This comes on the heels of an legal professional for the brothers submitting a request to maneuver the case from the district legal professional’s workplace to the California legal professional normal’s workplace, claiming a battle of curiosity between Hochman and Kathleen Cady, whom Hoch simply named director of the division’s Bureau of Sufferer Companies. .
Cady lately resigned as legal professional for Milton Anderson, the one Menendez member of the family who pushed to maintain the brothers in jail.
Hochman stated Friday that Cady is “closed from the Menendez case.”
Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit with legal professional Leslie Abramson, proper, in Beverly Hills Municipal Courtroom throughout a listening to, November 26, 1990.
Nick Ut/AP
Lyle and Erik Menendez have been convicted in 1996 of the 1989 murders of their mother and father, Jose and Kitty Menendez, who they shot within the household’s Beverly Hills house.
The protection claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by the hands of their father, however prosecutors alleged they killed for cash.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, 21 and 18 years previous respectively on the time of the crime, have been sentenced to 2 consecutive life sentences with out the potential of parole.
Along with revenge, the brothers took two different paths to freedom.
In 2023, the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition for assessment of recent proof not introduced at trial.
In addition they submitted a request for clemency to California Governor Gavin Newsom. In November, Newsom stated he would await Hochman’s “assessment and evaluation of the Menendez case earlier than making any clemency choices.”
Amanda M. Morris of ABC Information contributed to this report.
Menendez brothers newest: District legal professional has had ‘productive’ assembly with household, however has not but decided
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