By Juliette Fairley
Contributing Writer
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman filed a reply motion on Monday to withdraw a previous recommendation by former DA George Gascón to reduce the prison terms of 54-year-old Erik and 57-year-old Lyle Menendez.
Gascon had recommended in October that the Menendez brothers be resentenced with the possibility of parole instead of life in prison without parole.
Hochman believes the brothers have not exhibited “full insight and complete responsibility” for their crimes.
“We have now analyzed the original motion filed by the District Attorney’s Office and saw that in no way, shape, or form did they deal with what we believe to be one of the key issues: this exhibition of full insight and complete responsibility for one’s crimes,” Hochman said during a Monday morning press conference.
In 1996, the Menendez brothers were convicted of first-degree murder in the 1989 Beverly Hills deaths of their parents, Mary “Kitty” Menendez and Jose Menendez, who was an entertainment executive in the 1980s.
Hochman said his position is partly based on the brothers allegedly failing to provide a consistent and clear motive.
“The self-defense defense was a fabrication,” Hochman told reporters. “If they finally acknowledge the lies they have told and persisted in for 30 years, we will evaluate that sincerity and decide if it’s real or fake.”
He further urged the Menendez brothers to come clean, so they could be in a position for the court to recommend resentencing.
“If that were to occur, then I’ve said the District Attorney’s Office, if they believed that these new insights were sincere or unequivocal, then we would reconsider whether or not we would go forward on a resentencing motion,” Hochman added.
A 60-page statement of facts detailing the alleged crime was included with Hochman’s filing.
There were allegedly more than 12 shotgun blasts that occurred the night of the murders, with one shot found through the back of Jose Menendez’s head, according to Hochman. Although the Menendez brothers had run out of ammunition, Hochman alleged they reloaded the shotgun and blasted their mother’s face. After their parents were dead, Hochman added that the brothers shot both of their knees to imitate a gangland hit.
Erik Menendez testified during his second trial saying that he had encountered sexual abuse by his father between the ages of 6 and 18. He also recalled the sexual abuse that his brother Lyle had experienced by his father between the ages of 6 and 8.
When questioned by a reporter during the press conference, Hochman denied bias against the Menendez brothers.
“We are pulling back or asking the court to withdraw that motion while we’re also indicating to the court that we’re prepared to go forward on the court’s own motion for resentencing,” Hochman said.
The court-initiated resentencing proceeding will hold hearings on March 20 and 21.
Hochman previously denied a new trial during a Feb. 21 press conference, explaining that the evidence of abuse is not pertinent to determining their guilt in the case.
“Sexual abuse in this situation may have been a motivation for Erik and Lyle to do what they did, but it does not constitute self-defense,” Hochman said last month.
He also said the brothers’ own testimony of sexual abuse was untrustworthy because they had told five different explanations for why they committed the murder.
