California Gov. Gavin Newsom will delay his decision on the Menendez brothers’ pardon petition so incoming Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman can review the case, his office announced Monday.
“The Governor respects the district attorney’s role in ensuring justice and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” Newsom’s office said in a statement. “The Governor will await the elected district attorney’s review and analysis of the Menendez case before making any clemency decisions.”
Lyle and Erik Menendez spent about 35 years in state prison after being convicted of murdering their parents in 1989. Retiring District Attorney George Gascon sent letters supporting the brothers’ clemency to Newsom after a Netflix show and documentary revived interest in the brothers’ case.
“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Serving 34 years respectively, they continued their education and worked to establish new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates,” Gascón said. said in a statement before he lost his re-election bid.
In an interview, Hochman said that if the case is not resolved at a habeas petition hearing on Nov. 25 — when a judge will hear a motion seeking to vacate the first-degree murder convictions — he will review the case to determine whether or not he will make a recommendation. to blame.
Hochmanwho will be sworn in on December 2, indicated he would ask the court for additional time to review the cast ahead of the criminal case hearing scheduled for December 11.
“I wouldn’t delay for the sake of delay because this case is too important for the Menendez brothers,” Hochman said in an interview earlier in November. “It is too important for the relatives of the victims. It is too important to the public to postpone the assessment that people should expect from a prosecutor.”
Such an analysis of the case would include reviewing thousands of pages of jail records and transcripts from the months-long trials, as well as speaking with law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel and family members of the victims, he added.
“Whatever position I ultimately take, people should expect that I have put a lot of thought into it and analyzed the evidence,” Hochman said. “But my 34 years of experience in criminal law – with hundreds of cases as a prosecutor and defense attorney – allows me to work quickly and quickly to conduct these types of thorough reviews, because I have done this in many cases.”
After being arrested in 1990 for the death of their parents, the Menendez brothers faced two trials in which prosecutors alleged that they killed their parents over greed. However, the siblings testified that they killed their parents in self-defense. The brothers told the jury about the alleged sexual abuse they said they experienced at the hands of their father during an emotional, highly publicized first trial.
After closing arguments, jurors deliberated for about four days but failed to reach a unanimous decision. The judge declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a decision.
In the next and final trial, the presiding judge did not allow the defense to present any evidence relating to the sexual abuse allegations. Prosecutors argued that the brothers lied about the allegations.
The second jury convicted Erik and Lyle Menendez of first-degree murder in 1995 and sentenced them to life in prison without the possibility of early release.
