The Los Angeles D.A. is opposing a new trial for the Menendez brothers, citing their “lies and deceit.”
At a press conference Friday (Feb. 21), D.A. Nathan Hochman said he concluded that new evidence of sexual abuse shouldn’t impact the guilty verdicts of Lyle and Erik Menendez in the brutal killing of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1989, according to Variety.
Specifically, Hochman claimed that a letter, which the brothers' lawyers had previously described as a critical piece of evidence confirming Erik's claim that his father was molesting him, did not seem credible because it appeared to be an undated photocopy.
The letter was originally written to Erik’s cousin in December 1988 — nine months before the murders took place. "We've asked for the original copy," said Hochman. "We've not been presented with an original or an envelope with a postmark."
Hochman also claimed that it was “inconceivable” and “defies common sense” that Erik and his cousin testified about the abuse at trial but they both claimed that the last time they spoke about it was six years before the murder.
"If they had evidence that sex abuse had been communicated not just six years before the events, but nine months before the 1989 killings, it would absolutely have come out during one or both of the testimonies," Hochman said.
Hochman also revealed that he didn’t buy the claim that Jose also molested a member of the band Menudo. After reviewing the evidence, he argued that it was too weak to justify a new trial — plus he pointed out that the brothers’ self-defense claim was their fourth version of the events that occurred.
” What I believe is that they testified to that sexual abuse. They absolutely testified to it in great detail. I also understand that when it came to any corroborating information about that sexual abuse, it was extremely lacking,” Hochman said to courthouse reporters.
“And the fact that it was their fourth version – in other words, they didn’t come out initially and say, ’We killed our parents because our father sexually abused us. They didn’t go ahead and when they got arrested, tell anyone that,’” he added.
Back in January, the Menedez brothers’ sentencing hearing had to be rescheduled because of the Los Angeles wildfires. Hochman revealed then that the original hearing scheduled for Jan. 20-31 was rescheduled to March 20-21.
Last October, LA County DA George Gascón announced to the public that he’d formally ask the court to resentence the two brothers. He also predicted they would be home by Thanksgiving, but that didn’t pan out.