The Menendez brothers case: the last Menendez brothers: the prosecutor had a “productive” meeting with his family but has not yet made a decision

LOS ANGELES– The Los Angeles County district attorney met with relatives of the Menendez brothers on Friday, but said he was still reviewing the facts of the case and had not yet decided whether he supported the brothers’ request for freedom .

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that when he took office Dec. 3, he promised to review all the facts in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez. He said those efforts included reviewing thousands of pages of confidential jail records, trial transcripts, speaking to all prosecutors and defense attorneys involved and reviewing court records.

Hochman said those efforts continue, noting that he has not finished reviewing all of the prison records from the decades the brothers spent behind bars.

More than 20 of Menendez’s relatives met with Hochman Friday as part of their ongoing efforts to free the brothers from prison.

Hochman described the conversation as “very productive” and “in some ways an informal, off-the-record discussion.”

“They told me all their thoughts about what should happen, their experiences they wanted to share, the ultimate direction they wanted to take this thing,” he said.

Hochman did not reveal details of the conversation.

In a brief address to reporters, Anamaria Baralt, cousin of the Menendez brothers, spoke after the family’s meeting with Hochman Friday afternoon.

“We had a meeting with the prosecutor and we are grateful for his time,” she said in a statement. “I want to reiterate our position as a family and as the victims’ families that this 35-year process has been incredibly traumatic for us, as I’m sure you can all imagine.”

She said her family hoped to see an immediate release for the brothers, saying going before a parole board “would only serve to re-traumatize us.”

The previous prosecutor, George Gascón, announced in October that he was recommending that the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole be removed for the brothers, and that they should instead be convicted of murder, which would amount to a sentence from 50 years to life. Since both brothers were under the age of 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be immediately eligible for parole with the new sentence.

The prosecutor’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez have done behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.

A few weeks after Gascón’s announcement, he lost his re-election race to Hochman.

Erik and Lyle Menendez will next appear in court for a hearing in the resentencing case on Jan. 30-31.

This follows a request from a lawyer for the brothers to move the case from the California Attorney General’s Office to the California Attorney General’s Office, citing a conflict of interest between Hochman and Kathleen Cady, whom Hoch just named director from the department’s Victim Services Office. .

Cady recently resigned as attorney for Milton Anderson, Menendez’s only relative who was pushing to keep the brothers in prison.

Hochman said Friday that Cady was “on the sidelines of the Menendez case.”

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, whom they shot to death in the family’s Beverly Hills home.

The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, but prosecutors said they killed for money.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 21 and 18 years old respectively at the time of the crime, were sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Besides resentment, the brothers followed two other paths to freedom.

In 2023, the brothers filed a petition for habeas corpus seeking review of new evidence not presented at trial.

They also submitted a pardon request to California Governor Gavin Newsom. In November, Newsom said he would defer to Hochman’s “review and analysis of the Menendez case before making a decision on clemency.”

ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris contributed to this report.