New Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has a message for fans of Erik and Lyle Menendez: don’t rush to judgment as their Dec. 11 resentencing hearing approaches.
Hochman, 60, told The Daily Beast he thinks many fans of the Menendez brothers’ true-crime series don’t fully understand the case.
The Menendez brothers, now 53 and 56, are serving life without parole at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, after they were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, with a shotgun in 1989.
Hochman says the sudden interest in the Menendez brothers is likely because of a Netflix series and documentary about their crimes. To stay focused, the incoming DA said he hasn’t watched either.
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Nathan Hochman at the Los Angeles district attorney candidates forum at Pacific Palms Resort. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“I didn’t want to see them,” he said. “What’s the point? I’d rather read the book.”
Hochman admitted he only remembers bits and pieces of the case from 30 years ago, but that’s why he plans to carefully dig into the facts. The Menendez case is a “high priority,” Hochman told The Daily Beast.
Hochman added, “Any time a particular case gets this level of attention, it’s even that more important to get it right.”
Hochman, Republican, decisively won the seat earlier this month, earning 61.46% of the vote, while Democrat incumbent George Gascón had 38.54%, according to data released from the Los Angeles County registrar’s office. He says he won’t be swayed by celebrity endorsements, including from personality Kim Kardashian and actor Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in the Netflix series.
Before leaving office, Gascón asked a judge to reduce the brothers’ charges to manslaughter, which some say was a move to help his reelection campaign.
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Erik Menendez, left, and his brother Lyle, listen during a pretrial hearing, on Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles, after the two pleaded innocent in the August 1989 shotgun deaths of their wealthy parents, Jose and Mary Louise Menendez of Beverly Hills, Calif. (Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images)
Some superfans also hoped that the brothers could be released as soon as Thanksgiving after filing a habeas corpus petition in May of last year with a hearing scheduled for Nov. 26, but their resentencing hearing is set for December 11. Hochman is expected to request an extension from the judge.
The Menendez family has called for the brothers’ immediate release, asking to skip the parole process. But even if a judge agrees to resentencing, parole could still take a year. On top of that, Gov. Gavin Newsom could block their release.
Another possibility is clemency from Newsom. On the case, he said, “What matters are the facts. What matters is justice and fairness. Not treating them any worse because they’re celebrities, not treating them any better.”
The brothers admitted to killing their parents, but claimed it was self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father. Prosecutors argued that wasn’t true, saying the brothers killed for money.
Erik Menendez listens as his attorney Leslie Abramson speaks, while his brother Lyle sits in a Los Angeles courtroom, March 9, 1994. (Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images)
Prosecutors at the time pointed to a $700,000 spending spree in the weeks after the murders, including Porsche vehicles and Rolex watches. The jury agreed, sentencing them to life without parole. Though originally in separate prisons, the brothers were reunited in San Diego in 2018.
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Hochman will officially assume the position of Los Angeles County DA on Dec. 2.
He did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.