The Menendez brothers’ freedom bid could be thwarted after voters fired LA DA George Gascon

The Menendez brothers’ bid for freedom could be thwarted after Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón lost his reelection bid on Nov. 5.

The Los Angeles district attorney, who recently shared his office’s decision to recommend a new sentence for the murderous brothers, has been fired by voters as former US Deputy Attorney General Nathan Hochman claims that title.

Hochman has not yet revealed his stance on the Menendez siblings, who are currently serving life sentences without parole for the murders of their parents José Menéndez and Mary Louise ‘Kitty’ Menéndez.

However, he previously criticized Gascon for his decision after the hit Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story brought the case back to global attention.

Hochman said during a debate in October: “The timing is incredibly suspicious.”

But the new Los Angeles district attorney, who may withdraw Gascon’s recommendation regarding the couple, previously assured during a debate on the LA Times and KNX News that if elected he would “delve deeply into the facts.”

“Surely he wouldn’t allow me to give a press conference to tell him I’m just thinking about it.”

While Gascon recommended a resentencing, Hochman said he has to thoroughly review the case and the law before making a decision.

“Before I can make a decision about the Menendez brothers’ case, I will need to become fully familiar with the relevant facts, evidence and the law,” Hochman said in a statement.

“I will have to review each brother’s confidential prison records, transcripts of both trials, and speak with prosecutors, authorities, defense attorneys, and victims’ families.”

The statement concludes: “If for any reason I need additional time, I will ask the court for it.”

But with a resentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 11, and Hochman expected to take office Dec. 2, Hochman will have just over a week to make a final decision.

Speaking with CNN On Wednesday, Hochman said he would proceed as “expeditiously” as possible to review the landmark case.

“If I ask for a delay, it will not be a delay for the sake of delay because I believe that the Menendez brothers, the victims, the family members and the public deserve a decision to be made as soon as it can be made comprehensively.” “he told the outlet.

Gascon held a press conference just two weeks ago in which he recommended that Erik and Lyle receive a new sentence, 35 years after their parents were murdered inside their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.

Their recommendation was that they be eligible for parole immediately, but it will be up to a court to ultimately determine the final sentence for the brothers.

“I believe they have paid their debt to society … and the system provides a vehicle for their case to be reviewed by a court of law,” Gascón said at the time.

The announcement came in the wake of growing community pressure to reconsider the life-without-parole sentences Erik and Lyle received at their 1996 trial.

The brothers have never denied killing their parents, but have long claimed they were forced to do so after suffering years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their businessman father.

The public was not convinced of their claims in the 1980s, believing rather that they were ruthless monsters.

But in recent months, a TikTok movement of more understanding fans and a duo of Netflix shows have won them favor.

Gascón approached the Menéndez brothers’ relatives when he arrived at the press conference last month, greeting Kitty’s sister, Joan, 92, who has long advocated for her nephews’ release.

A sympathetic Gascon told the packed room: ‘I think they were sexually abused. They have been in prison for almost 35 years. I think they have paid their debt to society.

‘After careful review, I have come to a point where I believe a new sentence is appropriate.

Tomorrow I will recommend him in court. What that means is that we are going to recommend to the court that the life sentence without the possibility of parole be removed and that they be sentenced for murder, which, because there were two murders involved, is 50 years to life in prison.

“But under the law, because they were under 26 years old at the time these crimes occurred, they will be eligible for parole immediately.”

It was a bittersweet announcement for the brothers’ loved ones, including Erik’s wife, Tammi Menendez, and Lyle’s wife, Rebecca Sneed.

“Yesterday was a difficult and emotional day,” Tammi wrote on X/Twitter on October 25.

‘I am grateful to District Attorney Gascon for his bravery in requesting a new sentence for Erik. Naturally, I’m disappointed that he didn’t go further and act on his own belief that Erik and Lyle had already served enough prison time.’

Gascón had the opportunity to recommend that the charges be reduced to involuntary manslaughter, but chose not to do so because “these were clearly murders.”

“I don’t think murder would have been the appropriate charge given the premeditation,” he said.

“I think they were clearly murders. I don’t think it’s appropriate to go all the way to involuntary manslaughter.

While Gascón hoped the Menéndez brothers would be released soon, he acknowledged that his office was deeply divided over the case.

‘We do not have a universal agreement. “There are people in the office who firmly believe they should stay in prison for the rest of their lives, they don’t believe they were sexually abused,” he said.

‘And there are people in the office who firmly believe they should be released immediately.

The reexamination of the case comes more than 35 years after José and Kitty Menéndez were shot to death by their children, who were 21 and 18 at the time.

The couple was arrested less than a year later, in 1990, and convicted of first-degree murder in 1996.