Today, LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is set to give an update on the Menendez Brothers murder case.
This comes after Governor Newsom recently asked the state’s parole board to evaluate the risk of possibly granting clemency to the brothers.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that he opposes any retrial for the brothers, but is still weighing his recommendation on a resentencing, questioning some of the new evidence in the case and if the brothers were sexually assaulted by their father.
Erik and Lyle’s family were not excited to hear that.
“While we acknowledge that the district attorney has a duty to prosecute cases based on the law, we must ask, is he applying the laws that exist today with a modern trauma informed understanding, or is he relying on an outdated harmful framework that has since been rejected?” Anamaria Baralt, Jose Menendez’ niece, said.
Although it is not yet known what Hochman will say later this morning, in the meantime at the state level, the Menendez brothers did petition the governor’s office to have their sentences commuted.
Governor Newsom now says he’s directing the board of parole hearings to do what’s called a risk assessment investigation to see if Erik and Lyle pose a risk to public safety should they be released.
“My office conducts dozens and dozens of these clemency reviews on a consistent basis, but this process simply provides more transparency, which I think is important in this case, as well as provides us more due diligence before I make any determination for clemency,” Newsom said.
The governor’s office says that assessment could take a few months to complete.
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