- Erik and Lyle Menendez scored a authorized victory on Friday, April 11 after a choose dismissed new L.A. District Lawyer Nathan Hochman’s petition to withdraw the brother’s resentencing request, permitting the listening to to proceed
- Hochman argued the Menendez brothers “failed to fulfill the necessities” to point out they don’t seem to be a hazard to society
- The brothers have been sentenced to life in jail in 1996 for the killings of their dad and mom
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing listening to will proceed, a Los Angeles County choose dominated on Friday, April 11, stories the Related Press.
Final yr, former Los Angeles District Lawyer George Gascón requested a choose to resentence the brothers to 50 years to life in jail. They might be instantly eligible for parole as a result of they dedicated their crime once they have been youthful than 26. Nonetheless, Gascón’s successor, Nathan Hochman, didn’t help resentencing and submitted a movement to withdraw the resentencing request.
On Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom Decide Michael Jesic dismissed the petition.
Final month, Hochman introduced that he wouldn’t suggest resentencing for Lyle and Erik for fatally capturing their dad and mom, Kitty and Jose Menendez, of their $5 million Beverly Hills house in 1989.
“In taking a look at whether or not they have exhibited full perception and full accountability for his or her crimes, they haven’t,” Hochman mentioned at a press convention in March.
“In the event that they acknowledge the lies they’ve advised for over 30 years,” he mentioned, “then we will definitely consider the standard of that sincerity.”
The brothers, Hochman mentioned, “failed to fulfill the necessities” to point out they don’t seem to be a hazard to society.
Throughout Friday’s listening to, Jesic mentioned prosecutors may make their argument through the resentencing listening to, which is now scheduled for Thursday, April 17.
The listening to was initially delayed so Hochman, who took workplace in November, may evaluate what he mentioned was “tens of hundreds of pages of trial transcripts from two months-long trials, of the hundreds of pages of jail information, of the lots of of hours of videotaped trial testimony, of all related pleadings, reveals and statements, in addition to interviewing sufferer relations, protection counsel, prior prosecutors, and regulation enforcement and the relevant regulation.”
Nick Ut/AP
Hochman’s determination has angered relations of the Menendez brothers who’ve claimed that Hochman has a “private bias” in opposition to the brothers’ bid for launch.
“Erik and Lyle have apologized, taken accountability, and expressed honest regret, repeatedly, with no underlining motive aside from to develop, mature, and rehabilitate,” mentioned Tamara Goodell, cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez. “They acknowledge the broad scale impression their actions have had on us, their household. Since then, we have now seen their relentless dedication to emotional progress, incomes levels and uplifting these round them. That’s the definition of rehabilitation in my eyes.”
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The brothers have been convicted in 1996 of capturing and killing their dad and mom and have been sentenced to life in jail with out the opportunity of parole.
ABC
The brothers, who claimed they have been sexually abused by Jose, insisted they killed their dad and mom as a result of they feared for his or her lives.
Earlier this yr, Hochman delivered the primary setback to the brothers’ probabilities of getting out of jail when he introduced he would oppose a habeas corpus petition filed by the pair in 2023. The petition centered on sexual abuse allegations by Roy Rosselló, a Menudo boy band member, in opposition to Jose, whom he claims raped him within the Nineteen Eighties. The petition additionally cited a letter Erik purportedly wrote to his now-deceased cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse previous to the murders.
The brothers are scheduled to seem in entrance of a parole board on June 13 after Governor Gavin Newsom introduced that he requested the California parole board to evaluate whether or not the brothers are dangers to the general public in the event that they go free.
In the event you or somebody you realize has been a sufferer of sexual abuse, textual content “STRENGTH” to the Disaster Textual content Line at 741-741 to be related to a licensed disaster counselor.
In the event you or somebody you realize has been sexually assaulted, please contact the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.