Menendez Brothers: Prosecutors accuse LA DA of retaliation over resentencing support

LOS ANGELES - Two Los Angeles County prosecutors are suing Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman over claims they were retaliated against for their support of the Menendez brothers' release from prison.

Brock Lunsford, the former head of the district attorney's resentencing unit, and Nancy Theberge filed notices of claim on Monday, indicating they intend to sue Mr Hochman and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, according to court documents. 

The two prosecutors filed notices indicating their intent to sue over allegations of retaliation, defamation and discrimination.

According to the filing, Lunsford and Theberge allege they presented an argument last October advocating for the Menendez brothers to be resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, on the grounds that their continued imprisonment no longer served justice.

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The two say they were demoted to lower roles in the DA's office and mocked and ridiculed in online posts made by a close ally of Hochman.

Lunsford claims he was publicly humiliated and reassigned to a "calendar deputy" role at a courthouse after Hochman was elected.

Theberge claims she was forced out of her role to a lower-ranking position in the public defender's office despite receiving an "outstanding performance review" just one day before Gascón's resentencing petition was filed.

Theberge and Lunsford are seeking more than $250,000 in economic damages, and over $5 million in non-economic damages.

This comes weeks before the brothers' March 20-21 resentencing hearing, which was pushed back from December. 

Hochman insisted that he and a team of prosecutors were still reviewing thousands of pages of prison records and transcripts from the brothers' two trials and appellate court proceedings, and no decision had been made on whether he will support an effort to have their sentenced reduced from life without the possibility of parole to a term that might allow them to seek parole.

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Hochman has not yet stated whether he supports the brothers being resentenced. His office has not yet responded to the filings.

The Menendez brothers were found guilty in 1996 of the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, and were ordered to serve life behind bars without the possibility of parole. 

Erik and Lyle — who were 18 years old and 21 years old at the time of the murders — claimed they acted in self-defense after suffering years of physical and sexual abuse by their father. However, that defense was not allowed to be used in their second trial.

Gascón announced in October his recommendation that the brothers be resentenced after an investigation into new evidence presented to the DA's office - allegations that their father also molested Roy Rossello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, in the 1980s, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, which surfaced in 2015, years after Cano's death - was presented.

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Their names re-entered the limelight last year thanks to the release of Netflix's "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story."

For the latest updates on the Menendez brothers, follow FOX 11's continuing coverage here.