Top Los Angeles County prosecutors said Monday they retracted recommendations to reduce prison conditions for Eric and Lyle Menendez, who are serving a life sentence without parole for the 1989 shotgun murder.
In a reversal of support to reduce the verdict of his predecessor, district attorney Nathan Hochmann said there was “just good reason” to justify his withdrawal.
Hochmann said Eric and Lyle Menendez, who served in prison for 35 years, and 54 and 57, respectively, did not fully admit more than 12 lies they spoke about the murder, including killing their parents in self-defense.
“If you look at whether the Menendez brothers have shown full insight and full responsibility for their crimes, they haven’t,” he said. They do not meet rehabilitation standards. ”
He said that if they “get clean” and “fully accept it with full responsibility for their criminal conduct,” his office would reconsider their responsibilities requests.
That request is set to go before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jessick for a two-day hearing this month.
Anamaria Baratt, a spokesman for Menendez’s family, said he does not believe the brothers will follow the path laid out by the prosecutors.
“I can’t imagine them sacrificing their integrity and character now,” she said.
In a previous statement, Ballard and other relatives who support the release of the brothers accused Hochman of “taking their family hostages” and are troubled by the fact that they have been repeatedly abused, fearing their lives and tempered their actions, saying they are persistently abusive.
“How many times do you need to fill in who they are today and hear the same attempts that rip us apart in those painful times?” the statement said.
The brothers were convicted of the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez at their family’s Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989. Eric and Lyle claimed that their father abused them, describing the murder as self-defense. Prosecutors explained that the allegations of abuse were false and that they motivated the murders coldly and financially.
The brothers were charged twice with murder in the 1990s. The judge declared the erroneous statement at the first trial in which the ju judge failed to reach the unanimous verdict. They were convicted of first-degree murder in their second trial.
Hochmann opposed another effort by Eric and Lyle Menendez last month, saying he would challenge their beliefs by lawyers describing it as new evidence.
The brothers also seek freedom through generosity. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he had directed the state’s parole board to determine whether the brothers pose a “irrational” public safety risk if they were released.
In his bid for resting, former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said the life sentence for a sibling who has no chance of parole should be reduced to 50 years.
In an interview last year with NBC News’ “Dateline,” Gascón said there was no doubt that the brothers committed brutal and planned murders, but he said he was a model prisoner in 30 years in prison. The brothers helped prisoners with disabilities, launched a green space “beautifying” project and attended university courses, he said.
And there was no evidence that they were violent against other prisoners, Gascon said. Kitty Menendez’s brothers have said through their lawyer that their motives are “pure greed” and that he opposes early release, but many of the brother’s parents have publicly supported their efforts to release them.
His relative, Milton Anderson, passed away on March 3rd.
Hochman said the responsibilities of his predecessors appear to be based on a “incomplete” review of the brothers’ criminal conduct and whether they were liable to them.
In addition to his self-defense claims, Hochman said the brothers did not admit that they tried to provide their friends and girlfriends with false testimony to strengthen their defense at trial. He also took no responsibility for other deceptive actions he took in connection with the murder, such as making the murder look like a “mafia-style hit.”
Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot in the patella, Hochmann said. Jose Menendez was shot in the back of his head, and Lyle Menendez reloaded his shotgun before shooting his mother in the face.
Hochman compared the decision of Res Tinsing to the decision of the three boards who refused parole two years ago for Silhan Silhan, the man who fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.
He initially found to be suitable for parole, but the decision was rescinded after Newsom stated that he had determined that Silhan had not developed the accountability and insights needed to support safe release into the community.
