A family-led coalition trying to secure re-sentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez met with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman Friday.
Friday’s meeting with the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition included more than 20 members of the family, who organizers say are united in their support for a new sentence that “reflects Erik and Lyle’s abuse, trauma and demonstrated rehabilitation over the last 35 years.”
The brothers are serving life sentences without parole for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion.
Former District Attorney George Gascón, soundly defeated by Hochman in November’s election, had expressed support for re-sentencing, but Hochman has not yet said whether he will take a similar position. He wants the chance to review the voluminous evidence before making a decision.
Following Friday’s meeting, which lasted roughly three hours, Hochman described the discussion to reporters.
“It was a very productive session where they gave me all their thoughts about what should happen in this case, their experiences that they wanted to share, the ultimate direction that they wanted this case to go,” he said. “It was a very productive conversation over a number of hours. Again, I invite, I continue to invite any additional family member … to speak with me, and that forms part of the data set that we will use to determine what the right result should be.”
But Hochman insisted that he and a team of prosecutors are still reviewing thousands of pages of prison records and transcripts from the brothers’ two trials and appellate court proceedings.
A two-day hearing on the possible re-sentencing, which could lead to the Menendez brothers’ sentences being reduced from life without the possibility of parole, remains scheduled to begin Jan. 30.
After initially cancelling plans for a post-meeting news conference, members of the Menendez family decided to appear briefly Friday evening to discuss their talk with Hochman.
Anamaria Baralt, a niece of Jose Menendez, said the group was “grateful” that Hochman met with them. She said the family is hoping a judge will agree to an immediate reduction of the brothers’ conviction to a lesser charge of manslaughter, which would potentially enable them to be released without the need for extensive parole hearings.
“This 35-year process has been incredibly traumatizing for us, as I’m sure you can all imagine,” Baralt said. “We are very much hoping that we can find a path to manslaughter. That we can see the release of the brothers immediately. To understand that going to a parole board for our family will only serve to re-traumatize us more … We have had enough.”
Attorneys for the brothers are pursuing various avenues in hopes of securing their release, contending that new evidence backs the brothers’ claims that they were sexually abused by their father.
The pair were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the chance of parole for killing Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez on Aug. 20, 1989.
During an hourlong hearing in Van Nuys in November, a judge heard testimony from two of the brothers’ aunts, both of whom pleaded for their release from prison. Judge Michael Jesic made no immediate decision, instead scheduling the January two-day hearing.
Hochman said in November that the weeks leading to Jan. 30 will provide “sufficient time” to review court and prison records and exhibits, along with seeking consultations with prosecutors, defense counsel and family members, among others.
“I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court,” he said.
Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, both attended the Van Nuys hearing via an audio link from prison in San Diego. The brothers did not speak, other than acknowledging they were able to see and hear the proceeding.
Interest in the case surged following the release of a recent Netflix documentary and dramatic series.
The Menendez brothers’ defense team submitted papers to Gov. Gavin Newsom requesting clemency, but the governor said he would not make any decision on the request until Hochman has a chance to review the case.
During their two highly publicized trials, the brothers did not dispute that they killed their parents, but claimed self-defense, citing decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse by their father.
– City News Service
Updated 6:55 p.m. Jan. 3, 2025
