Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor said Friday he has not made a decision on whether to prison terms for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for the high-profile murders of their parents in 1989, were to be reduced.
Nathan Hochman, who was elected district attorney in November, said he is still reviewing numerous court and jail records ahead of the resentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 30-31.
The brothers’ lawyers asked that their sentences be reduced to 50 years to life, a request that would make them immediately eligible for parole.
Hochman made the announcement after what the prosecutor described as an hour-long meeting with relatives of the siblings who support their release.
Hochman declined to say what those close to him told him, but he called the meeting “productive.”
An earlier statement from the family-led Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition said more than 20 family members were scheduled to sit down with Hochman to show their “support for a resentencing process that reflects the abuse, trauma and rehabilitation demonstrated by Erik and Lyle during this period. the last 35 years. »
Members of the Menendez family said Friday they were grateful for the meeting with Hochman.
They said they hope there is a way to reduce the murder conviction to manslaughter and want the brothers released immediately.
The family who spoke Friday after the news conference said having to go to a parole board would further traumatize them.
Erik and Lyle were convicted in 1996, after two trials, for the shooting deaths of Jose and Kitty Menendez at the family’s Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989.
The brothers’ first separate trials ended in hung juries after they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but they were convicted of first-degree murder in a joint retrial.
The brothers said they shot their parents after years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of their father — an allegation disputed by prosecutors, who argued the claims were false. Prosecutors described the killings as calculated and committed in cold blood and said Erik and Lyle killed their parents for financial gain.
Their trials became media sensations – the first was televised – and the murders have since been the subject of multiple dramatizations and true crime documentaries, most recently a high-profile series and a film both on Netflix.
Former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón endorsed efforts to reduce prison sentences from 50 years to life. But Gascón was rejected in November, and Hochman said he would review the facts and law of the case before determining whether to support the decision.
In an interview with NBC News last month, Hochman confirmed personnel changes to the team that led the sanctions efforts under Gascón and, as he reiterated Friday during the press conference, said that he examined thousands of pages of documents on the case.
A judge will ultimately determine whether the brothers should have their sentences reduced.
Hochman’s office is also reviewing a motion from the brothers that challenges their convictions and raises what their lawyers described as new evidence confirming the alleged abuse.
The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition said it hoped the meeting with Hochman could provide “an open and fair discussion.”
“Despite the abuse they suffered as children and the injustice of their current sentence, Erik and Lyle Menendez have spent the last three decades taking responsibility for their actions and contributing positively to their community through their leadership and their rehabilitation,” the statement said.
“In our meeting with DA Hochman, we look forward to sharing our perspective on Erik and Lyle’s immense personal growth over the past 35 years and how we plan to support them in their next chapters” , declared the coalition. “We hope that this meeting will allow us to take another step towards a next Christmas together as a family.”
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