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() Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman fired back at Mark Geragos, the Menendez brothers‘ attorney, dismissing his criticism and doubling down on his rejection of new evidence in the case.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty of murdering their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The brothers have spent nearly 35 years behind bars.
“These new pieces of evidence add nothing to the self-defense argument. They are only additional information,” Hochman said Monday during an exclusive appearance on “Banfield.” “To meet the rigorous standards to get a new trial, this evidence doesn’t come close.”
Last week, Geragos accused Hochman of rehashing outdated prosecutorial platitudes: “The ’90s were calling and they wanted their DA’s office back,” he said.
Hochman told reporters the evidence featured in the brothers’ habeas corpus petition had been made public for years prior. Their lawyers filed the petition in May of 2023, asking a judge to consider evidence suggesting they were sexually abused by their father.
One piece of evidence a letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in 1988 claimed the brothers’ father, Jose Menendez, was sexually abusing them. Hochman said the letter was featured in a 2015 news report and questioned why the petition came eight years later.
A hearing about the resentencing was scheduled for January but postponed until March due to the wildfires in the Los Angeles region.
The brothers have the support of most of their extended family, who have said they deserve to be free after decades behind bars. Several family members have said that in today’s world which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse the brothers would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life.
At the brothers’ original trials, their defense attorneys argued that they had been sexually abused by their father. Prosecutors denied that and accused them of killing their parents for money. In the years that followed, they repeatedly appealed their convictions without success.
‘s Sean Noone contributed to this report.