Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he would only consider resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez after they “come clean” about their self-defense claim for murdering their parents.
The Menendez brothers are 30 years into their life sentences without the possibility of parole over their respective first-degree murder charges. Recently the brothers, now 57 and 56, began filing motions to pursue new sentences for themselves, which is opposed by Hochman because the pair do not seem entirely rehabilitated.
“We have argued that rehabilitation includes exhibiting the full insight into the breadth of your criminal conduct. In this case, the Menendezes presented a lie in their main defense, which is that they engaged in self-defense, purportedly by shooting their parents on the night of Aug. 20, 1989, because they thought their parents were going to murder them that night. That turns out to be a complete fabrication,” Hochman said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom Tuesday.
Hochman compared the Menendez brothers to Sirhan Sirhan, who, at 77 years old, was granted parole but had his case vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Sirhan was convicted for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Both the Menendez brothers and Sirhan were designated by their respective prisons with the lowest risk scores.
“[Newsom] said Sirhan Sirhan did not exhibit that full insight into his criminal conduct even though he was 77 years old and in diminishing health and had the lowest prison scores,” Hochman said. “I think what you will see is the Menendezes have been given multiple chances to come clean and finally admit all the lies that they have told. For whatever reason, they haven’t done it so far.”
The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 for the murder of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. Both Lyle and Erik claimed they had long been sexually abused by their father while their mother was privy to the abuse, which motivated them to shoot both of them to death in 1989.
GAVIN NEWSOM BEGINS ‘DETERMINATION OF CLEMENCY’ FOR MENENDEZ BROTHERS
The complicated nature of the Menendez case prompted the first criminal case against them to result in a mistrial. However, in their second trial, they were both convicted and are serving life sentences. A recent dramatic retelling of their trial, plus a documentary on Netflix, have thrust their names into the public sphere once more as clemency considerations rise. Even while recording the documentary for Netflix, the brothers stood by their claims that they were acting in self-defense.
Newsom has already called for a risk assessment of both Lyle and Erik. Risk assessments are conducted by public safety experts and forensic psychologists and tend to precede clemencies. Additionally, Newsom promised to publicize the findings to the judges who will rule over the recent sentencing motion in LA Superior Court and Hochman. As governor, Newsom has the authority to grant any Californian clemency.