L/A
A judge on Friday denied the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office’s request to withdraw a previous motion that supported re-sentencing Erik and Lyle Menendez for murdering their parents in 1989.
The ruling paves the way for the resentencing hearing to begin next Thursday in Van Nuys.
The brothers are serving life without parole for the 1989 shotgun murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez inside their Beverly Hills home.
Last year, former D.A. George Gascón asked a judge to change the brothers’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life in light of purported new evidence that indicated the brothers had endured sexual abuse by their father. That would make them immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.
The new evidence included a letter purportedly written by Erik Menendez just months before he and his brother killed their parents, detailing the alleged sexual abuse.
Hochman, however, reversed Gascón’s decision in a motion last month, casting doubt on the new evidence. He noted the letter was never mentioned in either of the brothers’ trials in the 1990s.
Hochman’s office argued it could not support resentencing because the brothers had not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents and did not “fully recognize, acknowledge, and accept complete responsibility” for their crime.
Despite Hochman’s opposition, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic ruled Friday that the court could move forward with the hearing.
“Everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing next Thursday,” Jesic said.
The brothers appeared in court over Zoom but didn’t make any public statements.
Deputy district attorney Habib Balian said Friday that the key issue with Gascón’s resentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed key elements of the original crime committed.
“What does it mean? To learn from your mistakes and truly understand that you were wrong,” Balian said.
Balian presented evidence and video clips of the brothers’ testimony from the first trial to demonstrate instances where they “hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception.”
He said the brothers killed their parents out of greed when they learned they would be taken out of the will, citing psychiatrist’s notes that he said showed “this was not self-defense.”
The brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, called the presentation a “dog and pony show” and said it was “nothing more than political cover” as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón in the district attorney’s race.
“They have authorized the denial of sexual abuse,” Geragos said of the prosecution’s presentation.
A judge on Friday denied the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office’s request to withdraw a previous motion that supported re-sentencing Erik and Lyle Menendez for murdering their parents in 1989.
The ruling paves the way for the resentencing hearing to begin next Thursday in Van Nuys.
The brothers are serving life without parole for the 1989 shotgun murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez inside their Beverly Hills home.
Last year, former D.A. George Gascón asked a judge to change the brothers’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life in light of purported new evidence that indicated the brothers had endured sexual abuse by their father. That would make them immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.
The new evidence included a letter purportedly written by Erik Menendez just months before he and his brother killed their parents, detailing the alleged sexual abuse.
Hochman, however, reversed Gascón’s decision in a motion last month, casting doubt on the new evidence. He noted the letter was never mentioned in either of the brothers’ trials in the 1990s.
Hochman’s office argued it could not support resentencing because the brothers had not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents and did not “fully recognize, acknowledge, and accept complete responsibility” for their crime.
Despite Hochman’s opposition, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic ruled Friday that the court could move forward with the hearing.
“Everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing next Thursday,” Jesic said.
The brothers appeared in court over Zoom but didn’t make any public statements.
Deputy district attorney Habib Balian said Friday that the key issue with Gascón’s resentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed key elements of the original crime committed.
“What does it mean? To learn from your mistakes and truly understand that you were wrong,” Balian said.
Balian presented evidence and video clips of the brothers’ testimony from the first trial to demonstrate instances where they “hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception.”
He said the brothers killed their parents out of greed when they learned they would be taken out of the will, citing psychiatrist’s notes that he said showed “this was not self-defense.”
The brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, called the presentation a “dog and pony show” and said it was “nothing more than political cover” as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón in the district attorney’s race.
“They have authorized the denial of sexual abuse,” Geragos said of the prosecution’s presentation.
