New Los Angeles DA meets with household of Menendez brothers as they push for killers’ launch | EUROtoday

The newest headlines from our reporters throughout the US despatched straight to your inbox every weekday

Your briefing on the most recent headlines from throughout the US

Your briefing on the most recent headlines from throughout the US

Los Angeles’ new district lawyer has met with relations of the Menendez brothers however stays mum on whether or not he’ll again their jail launch.

Nathan Hochman, who took workplace in December, mentioned Friday that he had a “productive session” with the relations, who shared their ideas with him on whether or not the brothers ought to be launched.

The assembly lasted about three hours.

Numerous relations, celebrities and others have pushed for the brothers’ launch 35 years after the killing of their dad and mom and the duo’s trial turned the main target of American headlines.

Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez have been discovered responsible of murdering Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989 and sentenced to life in jail with out parole. Now of their 50s, they started their bid for freedom in recent times after new proof of their father’s sexual abuse emerged of their case. Their legal professionals filed a habeas corpus petition — a request for a court docket to look at whether or not somebody is being lawfully detained — in May 2023, asking a choose to contemplate the proof.

The brothers have the assist of most of their prolonged household, who’ve mentioned they need to be free after many years behind bars. Several relations have mentioned that in right now’s world — which is extra conscious of the impression of sexual abuse — the brothers wouldn’t have been convicted of first-degree homicide and sentenced to life.

open picture in gallery

In October 2024, then-District Attorney George Gascon really helpful the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which might make them instantly eligible for parole. Hochman, who was working in opposition to Gascon on the time, referred to as it a “desperate political move.”

“By releasing it now, Gascon has cast a cloud over the fairness and impartiality of his decision,” he mentioned on the time.

A choose delayed the brothers’ resentencing listening to, initially set for early December, to the top of January. Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic mentioned he wanted time to evaluate in depth proof and provides Hochman time to weigh in on the case.

Hochman mentioned Friday he was nonetheless reviewing 1000’s of pages of jail data to “analyze the rehabilitation aspect of resentencing.” Evidence of rehabilitation might embrace not partaking in criminality whereas in jail, beginning organizations that helped different prisoners, and utilizing that point to enhance oneself, he mentioned.

At the brothers’ unique trials, their protection attorneys argued that they’d been sexually abused by their father. Prosecutors denied that and accused them of killing their dad and mom for cash. In the years that adopted, they repeatedly appealed their convictions with out success.

The brothers are being held on the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Their case has renewed curiosity in current months with the push for his or her launch and new Netflix collection taking a look at their story.