After months of waiting, in an appointment that has been postponed twice, Menéndez Brothers are looking for a way to reduce their sentencebased on the rejection of the new attorney general of Los Angeles, Nathan Hochman, to commute the life imprisonment imposed in 1996, Without probation.
The story of this case took a turn since, in October 2024, the then Attorney General of Los Angeles County, George Gascón, asked reopen the file For eStudiar if the brothers deserved a new sentence.
The brothers carry More than three decades in prison by plan and execute the murder of their parentsJosé and Kitty Menéndez, on the afternoon of August 20, 1989, at his home in Beverly Hills, California.
Among Gascón’s arguments was Finding of new tests They could indicate that Erik Menéndez, the youngest, suffered sexual abuse by his father, as well as the testimony of a worker who claims to have been abused by José Menéndez.
The prayers of the convicted seemed closer to fulfilling the support of the ex -fiscal to a Clemency request sent to the governor from California, Gavin Newsom. This request, which will be resolved on June 13, would open the door to the immediate release of both, in case of being granted.
Everything seemed to leave in his favor, but the November elections in the United States truncated Lyle and Erik’s freedom plans, to lose your key ally.
The progressive Gascón was not reelected as a prosecutor of Los Angeles, and his place was occupied by conservative Hochman, who arrived with the promise to harden criminal justice In the county.
The new prosecutor was clear from the beginning: he opposes a Menéndez status review. Although a court of first instance has the last word, to deet the recommendation of the Prosecutor’s Office would mean an institutional confrontation in the Angelina Justice.
To this struggle is added the political connotation that has emerged from the attempted Newsom and Hochman for influencing the control of the judicial apparatus in California, one of the most progressive in the United States.
While Hochman plants to ask the court to reject a new sentence, the governor warns that he has the power to pardon them in June.
The 16 lies that prevent Hochman from believing in the brothers
For Hochman, the Menéndez do not deserve a new sentence because, according to their data, have lied for more than three decades about the murder of their parents.
The Prosecution has detected 20 liesof which four have been admitted by the brothers. 16 still persist without explanation, which, in the judgment of the prosecutor, evidence that they are not rehabilitated.
If this door closes at the audience scheduled for April 11 and 12, Lyle and Erik’s hopes of reaching freedom would be minimized, since this is the most viable resource.
There would be the option of forgiveness by Newsom, unlikely, since would imply its immediate release; And the request for habeas corpusin which they request to reopen the case before the appearance of new evidence that, again, Hochman rejects.
With everything against, the family and a new public opinion – which has known the case through the Netflix series Monsters: The story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez– They press to forgive their crime.