LA County DA responds to continuing calls of re-sentencing Menendez Brothers
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A family-led coalition trying to secure re- sentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life in prison for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, met with District Attorney Nathan Hochman Friday, but the county's top prosecutor said he still has not decided whether he will support any actions that might lead to the brothers' release.
Friday's meeting with the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition included more than 20 members of Jose and Kitty Menendez's family, who organizers said are united in their support for a new sentence that "reflects Erik and Lyle's abuse, trauma, and demonstrated rehabilitation over the last 35 years."
Former District Attorney George Gascón, who was soundly defeated by Hochman in November's election, had expressed support for re-sentencing, but Hochman has not yet said whether he will take a similar position, saying he wants the chance to review the voluminous evidence before making a decision.
Following Friday's meeting, which lasted roughly three hours, Hochman called the discussion "productive."
"It was a very productive session where they gave me all their thoughts about what should happen in this case, their experiences that they wanted to share, the ultimate direction that they wanted this case to go," Hochman told reporters. "It was a very productive conversation over a number of hours. Again, I invite, I continue to invite any additional family member ... to speak with me, and that forms part of the data set that we will use to determine what the right result should be."
But Hochman insisted that he and a team of prosecutors are still reviewing thousands of pages of prison records and transcripts from the brothers' two trials and appellate court proceedings, and no decision has 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.
A hearing on the possible re-sentencing remains scheduled for Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.
After initially cancelling plans for a post-meeting news conference, members of the Menendez family ultimately decided to appear before TV cameras briefly Friday evening to discuss their talk with Hochman.
Anamaria Baralt, a niece of Jose Menendez, said the group was "grateful" for Hochman's time meeting with them. She said the family is hoping a judge will agree to an immediate reduction of the brothers' conviction to a lesser charge of manslaughter, which would potentially enable them to be released without the need for extensive parole hearings.
"This 35-year process has been incredibly traumatizing for us, as I'm sure you can all imagine," Baralt said. "We are very much hoping that we can find a path to manslaughter. That we can see the release of the brothers immediately. To understand that going to a parole board for our family will only serve to retraumatize us more. Two parole boards. Two brothers, again with victim statements. We have had enough. It is a lot -- 35 years is a very long time. So we hope that will happen."
On Thursday, ahead of the meeting, the group issued a statement saying the family "is hopeful for an open and fair discussion."
"Despite the abuse they endured as children and the unfairness of their current sentence, Erik and Lyle Menendez have spent the last three decades taking responsibility for their actions and contributing positively to their community through leadership and rehabilitation," they stated. ".
"During our meeting with DA Hochman, we look forward to sharing our perspective on Erik and Lyle's immense personal growth over the last 35 years and the ways in which we plan to support them in their next chapters. We hope that this meeting will put us a step closer to spending next Christmas reunited as a family."
Attorneys for the brothers are pursuing various avenues in hopes of securing their release from prison, contending that new evidence backs the brothers' claims that they were sexually abused by their father.
The pair were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the chance of parole for killing Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez on Aug. 20, 1989.
During an hourlong hearing in Van Nuys in November, a judge heard testimony from two of the brothers' aunts, both of whom pleaded for their release from prison. Judge Michael Jesic made no immediate decision, instead scheduling a two-day hearing for Jan. 30-31 to hear the various arguments in the case.
Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez's sister, and Terry Baralt, Jose's older sister, asked for the brothers' release, saying 35 years was enough prison time for Erik and Lyle Menendez considering the abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of their father.
"We miss those who are gone tremendously," Terry Baralt, 85, testified. "But we miss the kids too."
Baralt, who became emotional during her time on the stand, told the court that "it's time for them to come home," adding that the brothers "have done a lot of good things" while incarcerated.
Asked by Brock Lunsford, assistant head deputy of the District Attorney's Post-Conviction and Litigation unit, if she knew exactly why her nephews were in prison, Baralt replied, "Absolutely. They killed their parents."
VanderMolen, 93, read a statement to the court, imploring the judge to release the brothers.
"No child should have to endure what Lyle and Eric have lived through," she said. "No child should have to live ... knowing that at night, their father was going to rape them. It's time for them to come home."
VanderMolen said that she speaks for all members of her family apart from her brother Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez's 90-year-old brother, who has said previously through an attorney that his nephews' "cold-blooded actions shattered their family."
Hochman said in November that ``Judge Jesic's decision to continue the hearing on the re-sentencing motion to January 30-31 will provide me with sufficient time to review the extensive prison records, transcripts of two lengthy trials and voluminous exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and victim family members.
``I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court."
Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, both attended the Van Nuys hearing via an audio link from prison in San Diego. The brothers did not speak, other than acknowledging they were able to see and hear the proceeding.
Defense attorneys filed a petition in 2023 arguing that newly uncovered evidence bolsters defense allegations that the brothers were victims of sexual abuse.
In the court filing, Menendez attorneys pointed to two new pieces of evidence they contend corroborate the brothers' allegations of long-term sexual abuse at the hands of their father -- a letter written by Erik Menendez to one of his cousins in early 1989, eight months before the August 1989 killings, and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, that he too was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager.
Jose Menendez was an executive at RCA Records, which signed Menudo to a recording contract.
Interest in the case surged following the release of a recent Netflix documentary and dramatic series.
The Menendez brothers' defense team submitted papers to Gov. Gavin Newsom requesting clemency, but the governor said he would not make any decision on the request until Hochman has a chance to review the nearly 35-year- old case.
During their two highly publicized trials, the brothers did not dispute that they killed their parents, but claimed self-defense, citing decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse by their father.