LOS ANGELES (AP) — The district legal professional of Los Angeles says he doesn’t help the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers who’ve spent greater than 30 years in jail for killing their mother and father at their Beverly Hills house in 1989.
Los Angeles County District Legal professional Nathan Hochman mentioned Monday that his workplace was withdrawing his predecessor’s request for a resentencing as a result of the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their mother and father and “fell short” of taking full accountability for his or her crimes.
The brothers have argued that they dedicated the crimes in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
Earlier than leaving workplace, earlier district legal professional George Gascón mentioned he would reexamine the case given a renewed understanding of and empathy for sexual abuse victims.
The case has been again within the headlines following a docuseries and a true-crime drama launched by Netflix.
Right here’s a take a look at the timeline of the case:
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August 1989: Jose Menendez, an govt at RCA Information in Los Angeles, and his spouse Kitty Menendez, are shot and killed of their Beverly Hills mansion.
March 1990: Lyle Menendez, then 21, is arrested. Eighteen-year-old Erik Menendez turns himself in a number of days later. They’re accused of first-degree homicide.
July 1993: The Menendez brothers go on trial, every with a separate jury. Prosecutors argued that they killed their mother and father for monetary achieve. The brothers’ attorneys don’t dispute the pair killed their mother and father, however argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.
January 1994: Each juries impasse.
October 1995: The brothers’ retrial begins, this time with a single jury. A lot of the protection proof about alleged sexual abuse is excluded throughout the second trial.
March 1996: Jurors convict each brothers of first-degree homicide.
July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life in jail with out the potential for parole.
February 1998: A California appeals court docket upholds the brothers’ conviction.
Could 1998: The California Supreme Courtroom agrees with the appeals court docket choice.
October 1998: The brothers file habeas corpus petitions with the California Supreme Courtroom, that are denied the subsequent yr.
August 1999: The brothers file habeas corpus petitions in federal district court docket, that are denied in 2003.
September 2005: The U.S. ninth Circuit Courtroom of Appeals denies their habeas corpus enchantment.
Could 2023: Attorneys for the Menendez brothers ask the court docket to rethink the conviction and sentence in mild of recent proof from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who mentioned he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. As well as, they submit a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin about his father’s abuse earlier than the killings.
September 2024: Netflix releases the crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, ” a nine-episode sequence in regards to the killings.
Oct. 4, 2024: Los Angeles District Legal professional George Gascón says his workplace is reviewing new proof within the case.
Oct. 16, 2024: A number of generations of members of the family of the Menendez brothers maintain a information convention pleading for his or her launch from jail. The family members say the jurors who sentenced them to life with out parole in 1996 have been a part of a society that was not prepared to listen to that boys could possibly be raped.
Oct. 24, 2024: Prosecutors say they are going to petition the court docket to resentence the brothers, and that it might result in their launch.
Nov. 18, 2024: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he wouldn’t determine on granting the brothers clemency till after the newly elected district legal professional has an opportunity to assessment the case.
Nov. 25, 2024: A Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom choose holds a listening to relating to the request for resentencing however says he wants extra time to decide, pushing it again to Jan. 30 and 31 as an alternative of Dec. 11 as initially deliberate.
Dec. 3, 2024: Nathan Hochman is sworn into workplace as the brand new district legal professional of LA County.
Jan. 17, 2025: Because of the fires within the LA area, Hochman pushes the resentencing listening to again to March 20 and 21.
Feb. 21, 2025: Hochman says his workplace will oppose a brand new trial for the Menendez brothers. He solid doubt on the proof of sexual abuse, together with the letter Erik wrote to his cousin about his father’s abuse, and mentioned it was not pertinent to the case.
Feb. 26, 2025: California Gov. Gavin Newsom orders the state parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” to find out whether or not the brothers have been rehabilitated and if they might pose a hazard to the general public if launched.
March 10, 2025: Hochman says his workplace will not help resentencing the brothers as a result of they’ve repeatedly lied about why they killed their mother and father.
