The California prosecutor who said this month that he would not seek resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez has said he would reconsider if they admit to plotting to kill their parents in 1989.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he will rescind ex-prosecutor George Gascón’s request for a resentencing hearing in the Menendez brothers’ case. While Governor Gavin Newsom scheduled a clemency hearing for June, Hochman told “Good Morning America” that his office identified 20 lies made by the brothers and that he will consider resentencing if they admit they lied.
“The essence of that checklist is that they’d have to finally admit after 30 years, they killed their parents willfully, deliberately and in premeditated fashion, not because they believed that their parents were going to kill them that night,” Hochman said.
READ: Governor Schedules Clemency Hearing in Menendez Brothers Case
Gascón sought to have the brothers’ sentence of life without parole changed to 50 years to life — but Hochman said his analysis of the case has uncovered facts unfavorable to the pair and contradicted their claims of self-defense,
Meanwhile, Newsom explained that Erik and Menendez’s resentencing is independent of their clemency bid. In addition to seeking clemency in October, the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition for a new trial, which Hochman also opposed.
In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez, then 18 and 21, purchased two shotguns with cash and used them to kill their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home. Investigators originally suspected the mafia was behind the slayings. However, a break in the case occurred in 1990 when Erik Menendez confessed to a therapist.
Evidence of Erik and Lyle Menendez’s father molesting them was presented at their first trial — which ended with a hung jury. However, those details were not as prominent during the second trial, resulting in their convictions.
Hochman told “Good Morning America” that the sexual abuse allegations were not his office’s focus when deciding whether to resentence the Menendez brothers.
“There was no additional corroboration of anyone in 12 years — whether it was another adult, a friend, a coach, a teacher — who reported on any recipient information that the sexual abuse occurred during those 12 years. But was there evidence presented at trial? Yes. Was it the defense that the Menendezes used to first-degree murder? Absolutely not,” Hochman said. “That is what we have focused on.”
A hearing regarding the withdrawn sentencing motion is scheduled for April 11.
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[Feature Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP]