Menendez brothers: LA DA opposes retrial, questions new evidence, abuse claims

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has asked the court to reject the Menendez brothers' newest petition for a new trial in their murder case on Friday, citing issues with the alleged new evidence in the case.

This comes months after former DA George Gascón announced he would be looking into potentially resentencing the brothers based off of a new appeal that brought forth previously unknown evidence.

Hochman said his decision comes from issues with those two new pieces of evidence, particularly an alleged 1989 letter from Erik Menendez sent to his cousin Andy Cano, complaining about being sexually abused by his father.

What did the Menendez brothers do?

The backstory:

Erik and Lyle are serving life sentences for the 1989 killing of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, inside their Beverly Hills house. 

The brothers went on trial twice. Their 1993 trial ended in a mistrial after multiple hung juries, and their following trial in 1995 ended with them both being convicted of first-degree murder. The judge sentenced them to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

What is the new evidence in the Menendez brothers' case?

Dig deeper:

In late 2024, then-District Attorney George Gascón announced he recommended the brothers be resentenced, based off of new evidence allegedly found. In their two trials in the '90s, attorneys tried to argue that Erik and Lyle killed their parents because of the sexual abuse they had suffered at the hands of their father, Jose Menendez. 

The first is a letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano, in which Erik allegedly complained about the abuse months before the killings. According to the brothers' attorneys, Cano's mom found the letter nine years ago.

The second piece of evidence was a sworn statement from a third person who claimed he was abused by José Menendez as a teenager. 

Based off the new evidence, Gascón said, "I came to a place where I believe that under the law, resentencing is appropriate."

A resentencing hearing was originally scheduled for Jan. 30-31, but it was pushed back to Mar. 20 and 21 due to the LA wildfires. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: LA County DA responds to continuing calls of re-sentencing Menendez Brothers

While former DA Gascón was in support of the brothers being quickly resentenced, Hochman, who defeated Gascón in the November election, insisted that he and a team of prosecutors needed to review thousands of pages of prison records and transcripts from the brothers' two trials and appellate court proceedings, and no decision be made till then. 

What happened in the Menendez brothers' case today?

What we know:

On Friday, Hochman recommended that a court reject the brothers' attempt to get a new trial in the case. In his argument, Hochman pointed to a number of issues with the evidence, particularly the letter.

Hochman argued that though the letter wasn't presented at either trial, "If Erik Menendez wrote this letter, he had it or knew about it, or Andy Cano had it and certainly knew about it by the time of the 1993 trials." Hochman called it "inconceivable" that evidence that the two had communicated about the alleged sexual abuse wouldn't come out in either trial. 

Hochman also questioned why the brothers' petition for a new trial wasn't filed until years after this letter was allegedly discovered. The delay violates the requirements of a valid petition, Hochman said.

He also cited difficulties authenticating the letter, and the brothers' changing testimonies about the killings.

"What we found out is that Erik and Lyle Menendez had told five different versions of the events of what had happened," Hochman said.

Ultimately, Hochman concluded that even if the sexual abuse happened, it does not legally justify murder, and the brothers' petition failed to meet the standards to warrant a new trial.

What's next in the Menendez brothers' case?

What's next:

If the court agrees with Hochman, and denies the habeas petition, Hochman said they can appeal the decision, and there would be a hearing.

But, the brothers are also exploring other avenues to get them out of prison sooner. The brothers have petitioned to be resentenced for the murders, changing their sentence from life without the possibility of parole to life with the possibility of parole.

Hochman said Friday that his office would address the resentencing request in the coming weeks.

The brothers have also petitioned Gov. Gavin Newsom for clemency.

Brothers speak out in podcast 

What they're saying:

In a rare interview on "2 Angry Men" hosted by their attorney Mark Geragos and TMZ's Harvey Levin, the brothers said they are hopeful about their release. 

"Ryan Murphy's project was very widely disseminated, and it really did actually move a lot of people to understand the childhood trauma that Eric and I suffered, and particularly the horrific stuff that Eric suffered," Lyle said in the podcast.

Levin told FOX 11 that both Erik and Lyle have received their college degrees from prison, and worked on various programs and interventions to better their life. 

"They were working on prison recidivism, working on green space projects. And so it's not something they're saying right now to get out. They've been walking that walk for years. And it struck me that when you have no hope, and you just are going to die in prison, why necessarily improve your life? Well, they did, and that's what the judge is supposed to consider in the sentencing hearing," Levin told FOX 11.

RELATED: Menendez brothers make rare public remarks on podcast

The brothers also spoke about the "bullying" and "trauma" they've endured while spending the last 35 years behind bars.

"Prison was hard for me. I faced a lot of bullying and trauma – it was a dangerous environment," Erik said in the podcast. 

He said he did his best to avoid fighting back or engaging with aggressive prisoners.

The brothers were reunited in April 2018, after Lyle was transferred from Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California — where he was sent after they were convicted of the killings in 1996 — to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where his brother had been since 2013.

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