Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman met with Lyle and Erik Menendez’s family on Friday as the new top cop considers whether to resent the brothers.
The meeting and subsequent press conference came after the Menendez family called for a new sentence that “reflects the abuse, trauma and demonstrated rehabilitation of Erik and Lyle over the past 35 years.”
“As we prepare to meet with District Attorney Hochman, our family hopes for an open and honest discussion,” the family said in a statement released Thursday evening ahead of the meeting with Hochman. “Despite the abuse they suffered as children and the unfairness of their current sentence, Erik and Lyle Menendez have taken responsibility for their actions over the past thirty years and made positive contributions to their community through leadership and rehabilitation. ”
The brothers are serving life without parole for the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents at their mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The case returned to the national spotlight after former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón expressed support for the resentencing.
MENENDEZ BROTHERS EXPECT TO BE FORCED BACK, RIGHT EYES AT THE END OF JANUARY
Lyle, left, and Erik, right, are pictured in mugshots from 2023. After years apart, they were moved into the same housing unit at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego in 2018, according to the New York Daily News . (California Department of Corrections)
Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit with attorney Leslie Abramson, right, in Beverly Hills Municipal Court during a hearing on November 26, 1990. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The newly sworn in at a press conference public prosecutor said the meeting with the family was “productive.”
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“It was a very productive session where they gave me all their thoughts on what should happen in this case, their experiences they wanted to share, the directions they wanted to take this case,” Hochman said. “It was a very productive conversation that lasted several hours.”
Nathan Hochman speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles on September 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
The district attorney said his office is working diligently to review the thousands of pages of transcripts and court documents from the case.
“At this time, the hearing on the criminal case is scheduled for January 30 and 31. That date is the date we are working against. And if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he said. “We will continue to do this difficult but important work of assessing the facts of the law to make the right decision in this case.”
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Hochman said his office expects to have a decision before the Jan. 30 hearing.
WATCH ON FOX NATION: MENENDEZ BROTHERS: VICTIMS OR VILLAINS?
Hochman did not reveal what he was talking about with the familyand said it was an “informal, off-the-record” conversation.
“We are going to spend the time necessary to get this decision right,” he said. “There’s not a lot of free time in my life right now, but that’s OK. I didn’t sign up for a job that said I’d get a lot of free time.”
