California Governor Gavin Newsom has suspended his decision to pardon Eric and Lyle Menendez, who will spend 30 years in prison for murdering their wealthy parents, until the newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney takes office. dashed their hopes of being free during the holidays.
The fate of the convicted murderer brothers now rests in the hands of former federal prosecutor Nathan Hockman, a Republican. Hochman defeated Georges Gascon in his bid for re-election after the ultra-liberal top prosecutor advocated for his brother's release.
“The Governor respects the district attorney's role in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman with fulfilling this responsibility,” Newsom's office said. . said in a statement to CNN.
“The Governor will await the review and analysis of the incoming Democratic Congressman regarding the Menendez case before making any clemency decisions.”
The decision prompted Mr. Hochman, who had advocated for a tougher stance on crime, to review thousands of pages of prison files and court records before making his recommendations to the court, and to ensure that law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims and This will give you time to talk with your family. .
When the next district attorney takes office on December 2nd, he announced his determination to thoroughly review this high-profile case.
“This is the same type of rigorous analysis that I have done throughout my 34-year career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, and the same type of rigorous analysis that I give to every case regardless of media attention. It’s a thorough analysis,” Hochman said. CNN.
Last month, Gascon announced that his office had recommended that two brothers, now in their 50s, be eligible for parole after spending more than 30 years in prison for shooting their parents to death in 1989.
He claims the highly publicized parricide has paid his debts and is no longer a threat to society, and the bombshell Eric wrote to his cousin before the murder alleging he was sexually abused by his father. He cited new evidence, including a handwritten letter.
The two brothers were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996 for the brutal murders of their parents Jose and Kitty in 1989.
Eric and Lyle, then 21 and 18 years old respectively, were watching television in their Beverly Hills mansion when he killed them with a shotgun.
The highly publicized trials that followed made them well known.
The brothers' lawyers argued at trial that they acted in self-defense after years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their father, and there was also testimony from other family members to corroborate the accusations. Prosecutors claimed they were after their parents' $15 million fortune.
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The trial ended with a hung jury in 1994.
A second trial in 1995 convicted both brothers on two counts of first-degree murder after the judge ruled that the jury could not hear much of the testimony regarding the sexual abuse allegations. It ended.
The case largely stayed out of the spotlight during the prison term, but the recent Netflix series “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez” has reignited interest in the case.
