After decades in prison for the brutal murders of their parents, the wait is almost finished for the Erik and Lyle Menendez brothers in their supply of freedom.
Following disagreements between the current one and the former District of the County District of Los Angeles and a series of legal crises and to start delayed the case in recent months, the judge of the County Superior Court, Michael Jesic, said on Friday that the renowned hearing of the brothers could go on Tuesday. The hearing should last two days at the Van Nuys courthouse.
The brothers were found guilty of murder with special circumstances in the 1989 parents of their parents, Jose and Kitty, at the home of Beverly Hills’ family.
Erik, then 18, confessed to the killings in a conversation with his therapist and the two brothers were then sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. While Erik and Lyle said Jose had sexually abused them and was a threat to their lives, prosecutors argued that they had killed their parents to have early access to their heritage of several million dollars.
The brothers have hoped for their day in court since October, when it was at the time. Atty. George Gascón asked a judge to make them eligible for parole. Resentment could trigger their eligibility for parole thanks to the law on young offenders of the State, because they were under 26 years of age at the time of the murders.
Gascón quoted the work of the brothers by creating rehabilitation programs in prison, their low -risk assessments of those responsible for correctional services and new potential evidence on the alleged abusive behavior of their father as reasons why they should be released.
But after dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman beat Gascón in November, he promised to re -examine the case. In March, he said that he would not support respect, saying that the brothers had not taken an appropriate “idea” of their crimes and always laid about the fear that their parents could kill them to cover the alleged abuse of Jose.
Hochman previously asked Jesic to ignore the request of Gascón and consider only the documents submitted under his administration in the case, but the judge rejected this offer last month, affirming that there was nothing new “in these deposits.
Hochman, who appeared in the file before the court alongside the line prosecutors assigned to the case, Jesic again asked to reject the Gascón petition on Friday. This time, he insisted that the information contained in a risk assessment report generated by the Conditional Liberations Commission under the direction of Governor Gavin Newsom – who is considering a request for the Clémence of the Brothers separately – would have been critical for Gascón to examine.
The level of risk of the brothers went from “low” to “moderate” in the report. Hochman said the report also said that Erik was taken with a mobile phone, which is considered a smuggling in prison in November. The phone has shown that Erik continues to show “law elements”, according to Hochman.
“He continued to display narcissistic and anti -social features,” said Hochman, reading the report.
Hochman said Lyle had also used an illegal mobile phone this year and admitted to having helped another inmate with tax fraud 15 years ago and buying drugs in prison. The district prosecutor said that these incidents have proven that the brothers showed a model of deception behind bars.
Jesic again denied Hochman’s request, saying that the report should contain something as shocking as Gascón would have reconsidered his position, such as proof that the brothers joined a notorious prison gang, like the Mexican mafia.
A coalition of parents supporting the release of Erik and Lyle challenged Hochman in recent weeks, some of which have been the basis of a request filed last month by defense lawyer Mark Geragos seeking to disqualify Hochman and his prosecutors.
The family accused Hochman of holding a bias against the brothers and of acting “hostile, disdainful and condescending” towards them during a meeting earlier this year. Geragos also argues that Hochman created a conflict by hiring Kathy Cady – a former prosecutor and lawyer for the rights of victims who previously represented the only parent of Menendez opposed to their release – as director of his office of Victim Services. Hochman maintained that Cady is “closed” with the case.
The family also questioned Hochman’s decision to transfer the two prosecutors who filed the initial request because of the brothers. Lawyers, Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, continued Hochman for reprisals.
Hochman denied allegations of bias and said he was simply following the law. Geragos withdrew his request for disqualification on Friday because it would delay the restraint audience.
A lawyer for parents supporting the brothers, Bryan Freedman, continued to criticize the DA before the court on Friday.
Freedman accused Hochman of spending “hundreds of thousands of dollars” by hiring a communications consultant to denigrate the Menendez family during his successful campaign for his functions last year.
While Hochman did a problem with the Menendez case during the campaign – going so far as to accuse Gascón of trying to rename the brothers for political purposes – the question was only raised in the last weeks of the race.
Lag Strategy, the public relations company that managed communications for Hochman when he was a candidate, has been working on his campaign for almost a year at that time.
“LAG’s strategy is proud to have managed all communications for the winning campaign of Nathan Hochman for the district prosecutor. Our role ended when Mr. Hochman was sworn in as a district prosecutor on December 3, 2024”, wrote Stuart Pfeifer, co-founder and managing partner of the company, wrote in an email at Times. “The declaration of the Geragos team in court today shows that it simply did not do its homework.”
Pfeifer is a former Times journalist.
In ardent remarks outside the courthouse, Hochman accused Menendez’s camp to spread the disinformation and “hoping that this will be sold in a way in the media”.
“Shame on them,” he said.
California Daily Newspapers
